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Opioids Daily Media Report 8/25
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Chautauqua Co. to sue drug companies (VIDEO)
Aug 24, 2017 | WGRZ
By Danny Spewak
Chautauqua County intends to file a civil lawsuit against large pharmaceutical companies for damages related to the ongoing opioid crisis, according to a resolution passed unanimously by the county legislature this week. -
Should St. Lawrence County Sue Over Opioid Crisis? (OPINION + VIDEO)
Aug 25, 2017 | WNYF
By Keith Bedman
VIDEO LINK: http://www.wwnytv.com/story/36211233/should-st-lawrence-county-sue-over-opioid-crisis The opioid crisis has reached into every corner of America. -
Snap Poll: Majority blames pharmaceuticals, in part, for opioid epidemic
Aug 25, 2017 | Rochester Business Jouranl
By Staff
Few, if any, places have been spared from the opioid epidemic that has ravaged the United States this decade. From 2000 to 2015, the rate of overdose deaths involving opioids in the United States more than tripled. -
Toms River hires law firm to sue opioid manufacturers
Aug 24, 2017 | App
By Jean Mikle
The township intends to join a growing list of states and cities that have filed lawsuits against drug manufacturers, claiming they misrepresented the dangers of opioid painkillers, officials announced Thursday. -
The doctor-driven opioid epidemic: When will enough be enough? (OPINION)
Aug 25, 2017 | Bucks County Courier Times
By Paul White
State Rep. John Galloway last month contributed to this newspaper a very helpful and informative guest opinion entitled, “When will enough be enough? Time to fight back,” in which he spoke of a very serious problem: the horrible opioid epidemic that is killing record numbers of our youth at an equally horrible record pace. -
2 on Your Side Daybreak 7 a.m.
Aug 25, 2017 | WUTV (FOX)
By Buffalo, NY
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29013136?token=a0127544-4c70-44cd-8080-1cacaaca90c3 Rough Transcript: "The opioid epidemic claimed 21 lives last year... well above state average for a rural county. so in response-- the county legislature voted unanimously this week authorize lawsuit against drug companies. the lawsuit is meant to try to get money back for taxpayers. right now... the companies that are being sued have yet to be specifed. county executive vince horrigan explained to us what they've done to fight this epidemic before pursuing a lawsuit. we've looked at legislation in our state assembly, state senator with the i- stop program... beefed up law enforcement, beefed up treatment centers...i'd like to ay we've seen the peak, and we're turning the corner, but i really can't say that." in chautauqua county, this lawsuit will not cost an money up frot-- the law firm appointed will work on a contingency basis." -
7News This Morning on Fox at 7 a.m.
Aug 25, 2017 | WNYFCD (FOX)
By Waterstown, NY
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29013174?token=a0127544-4c70-44cd-8080-1cacaaca90c3 Rough Transcript: "Is a lawsuit one way to stop the opioid crisis? some st. lawrence county lawmakers think the answer may be yes. 7news reporter keith benman has the story. the opioid crisis has reached into every corner of america. some blame big drug companies and their aggressive marketing of the strong painkillers. they say the marketing push led doctors to over- prescribe them. that led to addictions. now nine counties in new york are suing. stephen button, st. lawrence county attorney: "it's premised on a theory that those opioid manufactures had engaged in deceptive practices to mislead prescribers as well as other health officials." keith track county officials are alarmed by the increasing costs of treating opioid addictions, including drug overdoses. there is also the cost of caring for children of addicted parents. and there is the cost of enforcing the law when people seek to feed their addictions with illegal drugs. john burke, st. lawrence county legislator: "it's really hard to stay ahead of that curve because it's becoming more prevalent and the deaths are increasing." keith standup "people bringing these lawsuits say you don't have to go any further than a county jail like this to see the cost. after a drug sweep earlier this year in st. lawrence county, about 60 suspects were brought here. it became so overcrowded the sheriff had to begin boarding out inmates to other jails. the county legislature had to put up more than two hundred thousand dollars to pay for that." john burke, st. lawrence county legislator: "we don't know what the costs are going to be down the road but you can be assured that they are going to be significant." keith track county attorney button said a partner from the law firm handling the lawsuit for other new york counties will make a presentation to county legislators in september. it will be up to them to decide if they want to join the lawsuit. there may be no cost upfront, as other counties have hired the law firm on a contingency basis." -
Channel 2 News Daybreak at 11 pm, 4:30 a.m., 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
Aug 25, 2017 | WGRZ (NBC)
By Buffalo, NY
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29013225?token=a0127544-4c70-44cd-8080-1cacaaca90c3 Rough Transcript: "We've learned another western new york county plans to sue companies that make opioids. chautauqua county will become the third... following erie and niagara... to pursue a civil lawsuit against major drug manufacturers. 2 on your side's danny spewak explains why they're blaming these companies... as the opioid crisis continues to get worse. in chautauqua county, the opioid epidemic claimed 21 lives last year. in this rural county, that's well above the state average. so the county legislature voted unanimously this week to authorize a lawsuit against drug companies. lawmakers say they misled doctors and patients and downplayed the risks associated with painkiller addiction. 4:38 AMhorrigan: "like s many counties, we are experiencing this epidemic that is tearing into our families, causing tremendous amounts of expenditures." county executive vince horrigan says the opioid epidemic is a huge burden on law enforcement and social services. this lawsuit will try to get that money back for taxpayers. kia briggs is the executive director of the chautauqua county mental health association. she says this sends a message to big pharamaceutical companies. kia: "it's destroye families, and i hope at the very least, maybe some treatment could be supported, if any money is generated from this." chautauqua county hasn't said which companies it will sue. but erie county is going after some of the largest drug companies in america, like johnson and johnson and purdue pharma. and multiple states have filed similar suits, including missouri... "i am filing one of th largest lawsuits in the history of missouri." and ohio... "these dru companies knew what they were saying was wrong." danny: "before i reached this point with litigation, what has the county done to fight this epidemic in chautauqua county? horrigan: of course, it's a multi- faceted approach. we've looked at legislation in our state assembly, state senator with the i- stop program... beefed up law enforcement, beefed up treatment centers... i'd like to say we've seen the peak, and we're turning the corner, but i really can't say that."
Traditional Media Coverage
Broadcast Media Coverage
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Chautauqua Co. to sue drug companies (VIDEO)
Aug 24, 2017 | WGRZ
By Danny Spewak
Chautauqua County intends to file a civil lawsuit against large pharmaceutical companies for damages related to the ongoing opioid crisis, according to a resolution passed unanimously by the county legislature this week.
The resolution, which authorizes County Executive Vince Horrigan to initiate the legal process, does not specify which drug manufacturers the county will sue. However, the litigation is expected to closely mirror action taken by neighboring Niagara and Erie counties, as well as states like Ohio and Missouri. These governments have argued they are entitled to recover millions of dollars in costs associated with the opioid crisis, which can include an increased financial burden on social services and law enforcement.
And they blame drug companies for exacerbating the problem.
Multiple lawsuits across the country have accused the companies of misleading doctors and the public about the addiction risks associated with painkillers.
"We are experiencing this epidemic that is tearing into our families, causing tremendous amounts of expenditures," Horrigan said, referencing foster care costs, public assistance programs, law enforcement and the jail population. "We've decided in this point in time, it's time to join a lawsuit to try to recoup some of the damages, some of the money that's being spent by taxpayers."
Erie County already filed a lawsuit against 11 drug companies this winter, seeking damages from some of the largest companies in the United States. Those corporations include Johnson & Johnson and Purdue Pharma, which have also been targeted by other local and state governments across the country.
The companies have contended that their products are FDA-approved, arguing they're just as concerned about the opioid crisis and have taken concrete steps to fight the nationwide problem. Many of these lawsuits have been compared to widespread litigation against tobacco companies in the 1990s, but the legal accountability for drug companies in the opioid epidemic is still somewhat untested in the courts.
Kia Briggs, the Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County, applauded the county's pursuit of a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies.
"At the very least, I think it sends a message, because of misrepresentation (by drug companies)," Briggs said. "It has impacted our community greatly. It has impacted families, destroyed families, and I hope at the very least, maybe some treatment could be supported if any money is generated from this."
According to the county, the opioid epidemic claimed 21 lives in 2016, well above the state average.
Updated data for 2017 has not been released, but Horrigan said it appears the crisis is only getting worse.
"I'd like to be able to say that we've seen the peak, and we'll turn the corner, but I can't really say that," Horrigan said.
Horrigan added that many advocates and treatment experts in the community urged him to move forward with litigation against the drug companies. The county attorney continues to research law firms, Horrigan said, but the county will not pay any money up front because a firm would work on a contingency basis.
"I've been thinking about this for a couple of months," Horrigan said of the lawsuit. "It's been clear to me that in all of our efforts — whether treatment, law enforcement, judges, legislative action — that as much as we're working hard, things are just not seeming to make progress."
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Should St. Lawrence County Sue Over Opioid Crisis? (OPINION + VIDEO)
Aug 25, 2017 | WNYF
By Keith Bedman
The opioid crisis has reached into every corner of America.
Some blame big drug companies and their aggressive marketing of the strong painkillers. They say the marketing push led doctors to over-prescribe them.
That led to addictions. Now nine counties in New York are suing.
“It's premised on a theory that those opioid manufacturers had engaged in deceptive practices to mislead prescribers as well as other health officials,” said St. Lawrence County Attorney Stephen Button.
County officials are alarmed by the increasing costs of treating opioid addictions, including drug overdoses.
There is also the cost of caring for children of addicted parents. And there is the cost of enforcing the law when people seek to feed their addictions with illegal drugs.
“It's really hard to stay ahead of that curve because it's becoming more prevalent and the deaths are increasing,” said John Burke, St. Lawrence County legislator.
People bringing these lawsuits say you don't have to go any further than a county jail to see the cost.
After a drug sweep earlier this year in St. Lawrence County, about 60 suspects were brought there.
It became so overcrowded the sheriff had to begin boarding out inmates to other jails. The county legislature had to put up more than $200,000 to pay for that.
“We don't know what the costs are going to be down the road but you can be assured that they are going to be significant,” said Burke.
Button said a partner from the law firm handling the lawsuit for other New York counties will make a presentation to county legislators in September.
It will be up to them to decide if they want to join the lawsuit. There may be no cost upfront, as other counties have hired the law firm on a contingency basis.
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Snap Poll: Majority blames pharmaceuticals, in part, for opioid epidemic
Aug 25, 2017 | Rochester Business Jouranl
By Staff
Few, if any, places have been spared from the opioid epidemic that has ravaged the United States this decade. From 2000 to 2015, the rate of overdose deaths involving opioids in the United States more than tripled.
States and municipalities have used a wide variety of methods to combat the epidemic, with varying levels of success.
This year, a new strategy in the fight has emerged: attacking the pharmaceutical companies that market the drugs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of all opioid overdose deaths in 2016 involved prescriptions.
State attorneys general and county district attorneys across the country have filed or signed onto lawsuits that claim the companies downplayed the drugs’ addictive nature and can be held legally responsible. In New York, at least eight counties—Broome, Dutchess, Erie, Niagara, Orange, Seneca, Suffolk and Sullivan—have filed lawsuits. Last week, Wyoming County approved a resolution to allow research into filing a lawsuit, and Genesee County has indicated it is considering one as well.
The lawsuits are similar to the legal action taken against the tobacco industry in the 1990s, which led to the largest civil-litigation settlement agreement in U.S. history.
This week’s RBJ Snap Poll asks readers whether pharmaceutical companies should be held responsible for the country’s opioid epidemic. A majority—53 percent—says pharmaceutical companies have contributed to the opioid epidemic but are not the biggest cause.
More than 350 participated in this week’s poll conducted Aug. 22 and 23.
How do you feel about pharmaceutical companies’ culpability for the opioid epidemic?
They are the biggest cause — 20%
They are a cause but not the biggest — 53%
They are not to blame — 27%
COMMENTS:
The pharmaceutical companies and the medical community share prominent roles in this situation many families find themselves in. I believe most of us know someone that has lost a loved one to these pain “killers.” As parents and grandparents, we should all do everything in our power to never allow our children or grandchildren to be prescribed these opioid-based drugs by a doctor or dentist. As our company we are doing all we can to protect our employees and their families from this disaster. The time for action is now.
— Victor E. Salerno, CEO, O’Connell Electric Company, Inc.
95% or more of the problem is due to unethical members of the medical profession who write prescriptions either for patients they don’t know or for quantities considerably in excess of what’s needed. I’ve never been given a prescription for a controlled substance for more than the minimum.
— Hal Gaffin, Fairport
When will people start taking personal responsibility for their own actions??? Because of people’s personal abuse, legitimate medical needs of patients who need this medication is being limited. Shall we sue the liquor companies and beer companies because some customers abuse their products? McDonald’s because some of their food can make you fat after you chose to eat too much of it? The lawyers and Govt entities will waste any money you give them. You saw how the tobacco money just disappeared into the politicians’ favorite cause or “alternative use” of the moment back then.
— Brian Urban
Let’s really examine this. The general public needs medications to manage pain, whether from injury, surgery or whatever. The Pharmaceutical industry, very heavily regulated by the FDA, responds to this demand and spends billions of dollars developing and testing them. The Pharmaceutical industry must go through rigorous testing to ultimately gain approval. Side effects are generously listed (pages on pages of them in the PDR) and the medications must be prescribed by a doctor and dispensed by a pharmacist. Both the doctors and pharmacists are heavily regulated. And now there is an epidemic. Before we assess blame, we should determine what’s causing the epidemic! Who prescribes these medications? Who dispenses them? Who counterfeit manufactures them because maybe it’s cheaper than smuggling cocaine and other drugs? Why do we have and why do we (society) tolerate the epidemic of all drug (legal and illegal) use? To ascribe blame to the manufacturer for the crisis would be the equivalent of saying the car manufacturer is to blame for the accident caused by speeding!! Do we want to bring an end to drug development? This would be a good way to start. How about we blame the FDA? How about we blame the doctors who (over) prescribe it? To blame the drug companies seems to just be another big money grab by governments so they can fund their boondoggles! We did this to cigarette manufacturers and have collected untold billions but to what end?
— Keith B Robinson, Diamond Packaging
You can’t blame auto accidents on car makers. There is a need for different prescriptions to treat ailments, but overprescribing is a problem. Doctors and pharmacists must be more diligent. They get to see who is getting the pills and who may be abusing them. Giving opioids to patients with minor or no true ailment is how the pills get on the street. If a drug that cured cancer was found to be abused by some people, would that drug be banned?
— Tom Walpole
I agree pharmaceutical companies are partly responsible. In addition we have physicians and dentists who over-prescribed opioids and/or inappropriately prescribed them, rather than taking the time and having the conversations required to do more appropriate pain management. We also have a public that is vulnerable to advertising messages and may have a poor understanding about both acute and chronic pain management, including what can and cannot be accomplished with drugs and what the risks/benefits are of those drugs. This is a public health crisis that requires comprehensive public health-style interventions. Suing the pharmaceutical companies is one way to fund the public health approach that we need. It might be more effective for Attorney General Schneiderman to take this up rather than relying on individual counties to do it. If I recall the tobacco settlement was taken up by almost all the AGs from across the country. AG Schneiderman has already gotten involved w/medication assisted therapy, mental health parity, and encouraging competition/generics for suboxone in the name of fighting the opioid crisis. It seems that this is a candidate for the AG’s involvement as well.
— Katie Orem, MPH
It is multifaceted. Pharmacies participate, doctors participate, dealers participate and mental health help is cut by government and we the public stay silent.
— Suzanne Mayer
Opioids are a valuable tool for doctors to help relieve chronic pain in many patients. I don’t see how misuse is the pharmaceutical industry’s problem. This is just the type of populist legislation pushed by politicians trying to look as though something is being done.
— Mark Wilson
As far as I can tell, the pharmaceutical companies are not somehow pushing the painkillers any more than they are “pushing” any other drug they make. The doctors prescribe the painkillers so I suppose you could hold them to some level of blame if they don’t properly instruct a patient on the risks of painkiller use. The final responsibility lies with the patient if they don’t follow the doctor’s instructions. Holding the pharmaceutical companies liable for the patient’s actions is similar to the tobacco industry liable for smoking related illnesses. The cigarette packaging has said for many years before the 1990’s that using tobacco products can cause cancer. The smokers knew they were taking a risk.
— Dave Fister
Pharma companies are in business to make money by selling drugs. They produce research to put their drugs in the best light, maximizing the plusses while minimizing the negatives. There has been a generation of opioid use with little check on the main negative associated with them…their addictive properties. Such properties coupled with the pervasive notion that addiction only happens to the weak has led to the problem we face today. The other issue today is that opioids are being made illegally further fueling the problem. I am not sure lawsuits are the answer, but correcting the problem by dialing back their use is necessary.
— Sue O’Brien, PT PhD
We live in culture of self-medication, any pain/discomfort needs be relieved ASAP and so many take little responsibility for their action. Blaming the companies that provide these drugs is letting the doctors and users off the hook too easily.
— Daniel Herpst, Rochester
I think the pharmaceutical companies are contributors but only a part of the problem. In some cases I’m sure people had no idea they could become addicted. More often, I fear people use opioids for escape initially, and then become addicted. We have big problems with underemployment, poverty and despair in many parts of our country. We need to focus on the issues underlying their losses and problems along with enlisting the understanding and cooperation of the pharmaceutical companies. There are no simple answers.
— Emily Neece
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Toms River hires law firm to sue opioid manufacturers
Aug 24, 2017 | App
By Jean Mikle
The township intends to join a growing list of states and cities that have filed lawsuits against drug manufacturers, claiming they misrepresented the dangers of opioid painkillers, officials announced Thursday.
Mayor Thomas F. Kelaher and Council President Al Manforti said Toms River has hired the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Motley Rice, LLC to represent the township.
Toms River will not pay the law firm, which will instead take a percentage of any settlement money the township may receive, the mayor said. The council voted unanimously to hire the law firm following an executive session Aug. 22.
The law firm helped negotiate the multi-billion-dollar settlement in the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill case and achieved a $500 million settlement for asbestos victims and their families against Travelers Insurance Co.
"It affects every corner of our society," Manforti said of opioid addiction. "Everyone knows someone whose family has been affected by it."
Police Chief Mitch Little said there were 49 drug overdose deaths in Toms River last year, and 10 of the department's 160 police officers work full-time on narcotics cases. Three of the officers work full-time with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
More than 2,000 pounds of prescription drugs were turned over to the police department last year, Little said.
The video above shows the sharp increase in drug-related emergency room visits in the last decade.
Police officers used Narcan, an opiate antidote, to make 221 saves of overdose victims in 2016, Little said. He said overdose deaths have dropped a bit this year, with between 15 and 20 deaths so far in 2017.
But shortly before Thursday morning's press conference, the chief learned that a 27-year-old woman had died of an overdose on Adams Avenue.
Little said police have been seeing more and more overdoses this year caused by Fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid.
"The manufacturers knew from Day 1 that opioids were addictive," Kelaher said. He blamed drugmakers and their representatives for pushing opioid use to doctors, while not accurately describing the addictive nature of the drugs.
"The epidemic is now in full force in our area," the mayor said. "Heroin is a curse on our society."
Kelaher said that the law firm approached Toms River officials about a potential lawsuit. He said he believes the township is the first in the state to agree to file suit against drugmakers.
Oklahoma, Missouri, Ohio and Mississippi are among the states that have filed lawsuits against drug manufacturers, claiming the companies marketed opioid painkillers while downplaying the addictive nature of the drugs.
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The doctor-driven opioid epidemic: When will enough be enough? (OPINION)
Aug 25, 2017 | Bucks County Courier Times
By Paul White
State Rep. John Galloway last month contributed to this newspaper a very helpful and informative guest opinion entitled, “When will enough be enough? Time to fight back,” in which he spoke of a very serious problem: the horrible opioid epidemic that is killing record numbers of our youth at an equally horrible record pace.
While I applaud the “Push Out The Pusher” effort, which he and District Attorney Matt Weintraub have recently championed, I must candidly admit my dismay at one glaring omission in Galloway’s letter that seems so obvious to me: dealing with our pill-mill doctors who indiscriminately prescribe opioids like candy. There was not one mention of these "doctors" in Galloway's letter.
Here are some thoughts to ponder: Who is monitoring the gigantic flow of drugs from the manufacturers? It's obvious that big pharma could care less about which doctor orders how many thousands of pills in a year, a month, a week. More, more, and still more, is all they and their stockholders care about. Does Pennsylvania’s government have any way to monitor such transactions? If not, why?
My local pharmacy will ask for my driver’s license and tell me I can’t buy a certain over-the-counter medicine I need if I try to buy more than allowed in any given time. Does our state government do the same for the pharmaceutical manufacturers and the doctors? Aren’t there any speed limit signs posted in the land of these killer, addictive drugs? Do we have any leaders with the intestinal fortitude to even raise the question and investigate? Or is that information kept hidden behind secret doors, cloaked by well-paid corporate lawyers who are ready to fight us tooth and nail? Some of my more cynical friends would be quick to ask, "Who's getting paid to look the other way?"
Coupled with the possibility of “insider” factory activities at the employee level, which I would surmise is also a remote possibility, how else does the massive, annual tonnage of opioid-containing drugs get from factory to the street? The answer to me is painfully obvious.
I am sincerely alarmed by what I see as a blatant neglect to relentlessly pursue undercover stings, and to make any substantial headway in severely punishing pill-mill doctors. These “doctors” have long since betrayed their Hippocratic Oath in favor of their own sinful greed. They care not who they kill with their prescription pads of death. They are directly contributing to the demise of too many of our teens and young adults who have been irreversibly hooked to over-prescribed opioids. They all need to be stripped of their licenses to practice medicine and placed behind bars.
I recall only one doctor in our area being jailed for such devious practices in the past year. One? Really? Please prove me wrong on this! We should be screaming in anger that one a week is not placed behind bars, not one a year!
In 2016, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette conducted a six-month study of Pennsylvania and six surrounding states. The results of this study indicate that sadly, Pennsylvania has the lowest rate of painkiller-related prosecution of guilty doctors found in any of the seven states analyzed in this investigation. This doesn't surprise me. It speaks volumes about what our communities are already painfully aware of.
What’s wrong with that picture, Mr. Galloway? In your own words, when will enough be enough?
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2 on Your Side Daybreak 7 a.m.
Aug 25, 2017 | WUTV (FOX)
By Buffalo, NY
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29013136?token=a0127544-4c70-44cd-8080-1cacaaca90c3
Rough Transcript: "The opioid epidemic claimed 21 lives last year... well above state average for a rural county. so in response-- the county legislature voted unanimously this week authorize lawsuit against drug companies. the lawsuit is meant to try to get money back for taxpayers. right now... the companies that are being sued have yet to be specifed. county executive vince horrigan explained to us what they've done to fight this epidemic before pursuing a lawsuit. we've looked at legislation in our state assembly, state senator with the i- stop program... beefed up law enforcement, beefed up treatment centers...i'd like to ay we've seen the peak, and we're turning the corner, but i really can't say that." in chautauqua county, this lawsuit will not cost an money up frot-- the law firm appointed will work on a contingency basis."
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7News This Morning on Fox at 7 a.m.
Aug 25, 2017 | WNYFCD (FOX)
By Waterstown, NY
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29013174?token=a0127544-4c70-44cd-8080-1cacaaca90c3
Rough Transcript: "Is a lawsuit one way to stop the opioid crisis? some st. lawrence county lawmakers think the answer may be yes. 7news reporter keith benman has the story. the opioid crisis has reached into every corner of america. some blame big drug companies and their aggressive marketing of the strong painkillers. they say the marketing push led doctors to over- prescribe them. that led to addictions. now nine counties in new york are suing. stephen button, st. lawrence county attorney: "it's premised on a theory that those opioid manufactures had engaged in deceptive practices to mislead prescribers as well as other health officials." keith track county officials are alarmed by the increasing costs of treating opioid addictions, including drug overdoses. there is also the cost of caring for children of addicted parents. and there is the cost of enforcing the law when people seek to feed their addictions with illegal drugs. john burke, st. lawrence county legislator: "it's really hard to stay ahead of that curve because it's becoming more prevalent and the deaths are increasing." keith standup "people bringing these lawsuits say you don't have to go any further than a county jail like this to see the cost. after a drug sweep earlier this year in st. lawrence county, about 60 suspects were brought here. it became so overcrowded the sheriff had to begin boarding out inmates to other jails. the county legislature had to put up more than two hundred thousand dollars to pay for that." john burke, st. lawrence county legislator: "we don't know what the costs are going to be down the road but you can be assured that they are going to be significant." keith track county attorney button said a partner from the law firm handling the lawsuit for other new york counties will make a presentation to county legislators in september. it will be up to them to decide if they want to join the lawsuit. there may be no cost upfront, as other counties have hired the law firm on a contingency basis."
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Channel 2 News Daybreak at 11 pm, 4:30 a.m., 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
Aug 25, 2017 | WGRZ (NBC)
By Buffalo, NY
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29013225?token=a0127544-4c70-44cd-8080-1cacaaca90c3
Rough Transcript: "We've learned another western new york county plans to sue companies that make opioids. chautauqua county will become the third... following erie and niagara... to pursue a civil lawsuit against major drug manufacturers. 2 on your side's danny spewak explains why they're blaming these companies... as the opioid crisis continues to get worse. in chautauqua county, the opioid epidemic claimed 21 lives last year. in this rural county, that's well above the state average. so the county legislature voted unanimously this week to authorize a lawsuit against drug companies. lawmakers say they misled doctors and patients and downplayed the risks associated with painkiller addiction. 4:38 AMhorrigan: "like s many counties, we are experiencing this epidemic that is tearing into our families, causing tremendous amounts of expenditures." county executive vince horrigan says the opioid epidemic is a huge burden on law enforcement and social services. this lawsuit will try to get that money back for taxpayers. kia briggs is the executive director of the chautauqua county mental health association. she says this sends a message to big pharamaceutical companies. kia: "it's destroye families, and i hope at the very least, maybe some treatment could be supported, if any money is generated from this." chautauqua county hasn't said which companies it will sue. but erie county is going after some of the largest drug companies in america, like johnson and johnson and purdue pharma. and multiple states have filed similar suits, including missouri... "i am filing one of th largest lawsuits in the history of missouri." and ohio... "these dru companies knew what they were saying was wrong." danny: "before i reached this point with litigation, what has the county done to fight this epidemic in chautauqua county? horrigan: of course, it's a multi- faceted approach. we've looked at legislation in our state assembly, state senator with the i- stop program... beefed up law enforcement, beefed up treatment centers... i'd like to say we've seen the peak, and we're turning the corner, but i really can't say that."
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