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Opioid Report 8/17
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South Carolina slaps Purdue with opioid lawsuit
Aug 16, 2017 | BioPharma Dive
By Suzanne Elvidge
Joining the recent flurry of prescription painkiller litigation, South Carolina filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Purdue Pharma L.P., alleging the drugmaker contributed to the state's opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing its products. -
More states, cities target opioid makers and distributors with lawsuits
Aug 16, 2017 | Modern Healthcare
By Alex Kacik
The city of Cincinnati and the state of South Carolina have joined the growing number of municipalities and states that have accused drug distributors and manufacturers of fueling the opioid crisis as the pressure to stem the flow of the addictive pain medication mounts. -
Manchester Likely to File Its Own Lawsuit Against Opioid Companies
Aug 16, 2017 | New Hampshire Public Radio
By Casey McDerrmott
Last week, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office took its first steps to sue an opioid company — Purdue Pharma — over its alleged role in the state’s addiction crisis. Now, some local communities may soon follow with lawsuits of their own. -
South Carolina Sues OxyContin Makers For Deceptive Marketing Practices
Aug 16, 2017 | Immortal News
By Zye Angiwan
The state of South Carolina sued Purdue Pharma LP, the manufacturer of opioid OxyContin, last Tuesday. It is the latest local government to accuse the pharmaceutical company of false marketing practices that have spurred on the national opioid addiction epidemic.
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South Carolina slaps Purdue with opioid lawsuit
Aug 16, 2017 | BioPharma Dive
By Suzanne Elvidge
Joining the recent flurry of prescription painkiller litigation, South Carolina filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Purdue Pharma L.P., alleging the drugmaker contributed to the state's opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing its products.
The lawsuit holds that Purdue violated South Carolina’s Unfair Trade Practices Act, created a public nuisance and didn't comply with a 2007 consent judgment on marketing tactics used for its drug Oxycontin. Among other things,Purdue told physicians that patients who were on prescription opioids to manage pain wouldn't become addicted, while those who did appear dependent on the drugs were actually "pseudoaddicted," according to Alan Wilson, South Carolina's attorney general.
Purdue has contended that extended-release analgestics such as OxyContin make up a much smaller percentage of the total U.S. opioid prescription market than immediate-release drugs, and that the company remains committed to abuse deterrence through the development of new formulations.
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"While we vigorously deny the allegations, we share South Carolina officials’ concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions," Purdue said in a statement to BioPharma Dive.
"OxyContin accounts for less than 2% of the opioid analgesic prescription market nationally, but we are an industry leader in the development of abuse-deterrent technology, advocating for the use of prescription drug monitoring programs and supporting access to naloxone — all important components for combating the opioid crisis."
In June, Purdue announced the second phase of its partnershipwith the National Sheriffs' Association. The phase provides an additional $500,000 for funding naloxone kits, which are able to reverse overdose from some opioids, as well as training for front-line officers.
Still, efforts from Purdue and other opioid drugmakers to combat the crisis don't appear to be winning them back many points with advocacy groups or lawmakers. In March, for instance, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, D-MO, launched an investigation into Purdue, Johnson & Johnson, Insys Therapeutics Inc., Mylan N.V. and Depomed Inc. — manufacturers of the top five opioids on the market based on 2015 sales — to look at their role in opioid overuse and overprescribing. The Drug Enforcement Agency is also considering reducing opioid manufacturing by a fifth next year.
Late last week, President Donald Trump signaled he would declare the prescription opioid epidemic gripping the U.S. a national public health emergency. The decision came just days after the Trump-appointed Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis reported roughly 140 people in the country die from drug overdoses every day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that 33,000 people died in 2015 specifically from opioid overdoses.
Now, South Carolina is adding to the growing number of cases filed against drug manufacturers over the marketing and sales of opioids. These include lawsuits from states, counties and cities in California, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Tennessee.
Purdue has had a history of challenges over its opioid development and marketing. In 2007, the company plead guilty to misbranding and misleading regulators about the risks associated with its drug OxyContin (oxycodone), resulting in Purdue shelling out around $600 million in fines. Three executives, including the company's then-president and top lawyer, also plead guilty to misbranding and were hit with their own multi-million dollar fines.
In tandem with its guilty plea, the company issued a nearly $20 million payout to 26 states and the District of Columbia pertaining to its marketing strategy. And in December 2015, Purdue forked over $24 million to settle a misrepresentation case for OxyContin in Kentucky, after making an initial offer of $500,000 in 2007.
Specific allegations in the current South Carolina lawsuit include that, since 2007, Purdue has downplayed how addictive its opioids are and overstated their benefits compared with non-opioid pain management to increase its market share and profits. The complaint also accuses Purdue of continuing to "mislead and obfuscate" since the 2007 consent judgment, rather than taking steps to reform its marketing.
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More states, cities target opioid makers and distributors with lawsuits
Aug 16, 2017 | Modern Healthcare
By Alex Kacik
The city of Cincinnati and the state of South Carolina have joined the growing number of municipalities and states that have accused drug distributors and manufacturers of fueling the opioid crisis as the pressure to stem the flow of the addictive pain medication mounts.
Cincinnati filed a public nuisance lawsuit Tuesday against some of the largest drug distributors, including McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Corp., for allegedly pushing through suspiciously large and frequent orders of oxycodone and hydrocodone and allowing the drugs to flood the black market. The city is seeking unspecified damages to recoup the costs for addiction treatment and other care stemming from the crisis. Any award could be tripled under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
From 2010 through 2015, the wholesale distributors sold more than 290 million opioids in Hamilton County, according to the suit. Cincinnati, which averages four heroin overdoses a day, experienced 174 heroin overdoses over a span of six days in August 2016, the suit claims.
Birmingham, Ala., filed a similar lawsuit Monday that argued the "big three" distributors unlawfully sold painkillers into the regions, leading to a "foreseeable, widespread diversion of prescription opioids into the illicit market." The municipalities join a handful of other cities and counties, including several in Ohio and West Virginia, that filed comparable lawsuits.
Cardinal Health said the "copycat" lawsuits are "misguided" because it does not manufacture, promote or prescribe prescription medications to the public and actively combats the diversion of opioids.
South Carolina on Tuesday sued drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma, which makes OxyContin and other opioids, claiming that Purdue misleads physiciansand patients through allegedly deceptive marketing practices. The state alleged that the company inflated opioids' benefits while discrediting the quality of newer drugs that deter abuse. Purdue also downplayed opioids' addictive nature, the state claimed.
South Carolina contends that Purdue failed to comply with a $635 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department in 2007 related to the misbranding of OxyContin. Purdue also created a public nuisance and violated the state's unfair trade practices act, according to the lawsuit. South Carolina is seeking unspecified damages that should be put toward expanding treatment efforts, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said.
"While we vigorously deny the allegations, we share South Carolina officials' concerns about the opioid crisis, and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions," Purdue Pharma responded in a statement.
Several counties, including Multnomah County, Ore., have filed similar suits against Purdue, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Johnson & Johnson, Watson Pharma and McKesson for costs related to overdoses and treatment as well as housing addicts and training county staff on how to use naloxone.
"Given the magnitude of the problem, it's only reasonable to ask if there was more that could have been done to address this issue earlier by all involved in the financing and distribution of opioids," said Dr. Kevin Schulman, a professor of medicine at Duke University. -
Manchester Likely to File Its Own Lawsuit Against Opioid Companies
Aug 16, 2017 | New Hampshire Public Radio
By Casey McDerrmott
Last week, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office took its first steps to sue an opioid company — Purdue Pharma — over its alleged role in the state’s addiction crisis. Now, some local communities may soon follow with lawsuits of their own.
Back in May, Manchester officials signed a contract with a New York-based law firm — Napoli Shkolnik — to explore the possibility of legal action against drug manufacturers.
Joseph Ciaccio, an attorney with the law firm, now says the city is likely to file a lawsuit against several opioid manufacturers and distributors within the next few weeks. The exact details of the lawsuit are not yet public, but Ciaccio said it would likely seek compensation for the local costs of the addiction crisis.
“The cities, the counties, they really felt the burden of the opioid epidemic, both financially and socially and every other way, and they’re the ones that really, in our opinion, know where the money needs to go," Ciaccio said.
Manchester officials did not return calls for comment on Wednesday.
The city of Nashua is also exploring a contract with the firm, and Ciaccio says the firm is talking with other communities across New Hampshire. Napoli Shkolnik has filed similar opioid-related lawsuits at the city and county level in New York, West Virginia, Ohio and other states.
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South Carolina Sues OxyContin Makers For Deceptive Marketing Practices
Aug 16, 2017 | Immortal News
By Zye Angiwan
The state of South Carolina sued Purdue Pharma LP, the manufacturer of opioid OxyContin, last Tuesday. It is the latest local government to accuse the pharmaceutical company of false marketing practices that have spurred on the national opioid addiction epidemic.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson filed the lawsuit in Richland County Court of Common Pleas in Columbia, accusing the company of deceptive marketing of its opioid painkillers, Reuters reports.
The lawsuit claims that Purdue told doctors whose patients were receiving opioid prescriptions that the painkillers were not addictive and that those who showed signs of addiction were only “pseudoaddicted,” thus they needed more drugs.
The Connecticut-based company has continued to downplay just how addictive their painkillers could be, the lawsuit said, and overstated it benefits compared to other pain management treatments.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that opioids were involved in more than 33,000 deaths in 2015. The death toll has continued to rise since.
Wilson said, While there is a time and place for patients to receive opioids, Purdue prevented doctors and patients from receiving complete and accurate information about opioids in order to make informed choices about their treatment options.
Purdue has denied the allegations, saying that it is equally concerned about the ongoing drug crisis and is committed to finding solutions.
Mississippi, Oklahoma, Ohio, Missouri and New Hampshire, along with cities and counties in California, New York, Illinois, Oregon and Tennessee have sued Purdue and other drug manufacturers for similar reasons.
In June, several state attorneys general announced that they would be launching an investigation into the role that pharmaceutical companies played in this opioid epidemic.
Purdue and three of its executives pleaded guilty to federal charges involving OxyContin’s misbranding in 2007. They agreed to pay $634.5 million. In the same year, the company also reached a $19.5 million settlement with a total of 26 states and the District of Columbia. In 2015, Purdue shelled out $24 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Kentucky.
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