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Bensalem Announces Plans To Sue Drug Companies For Opioid Epidemic
Aug 30, 2017 | Levittown Now
By Tom Sofield & Erich martin
Bensalem officials announced Wednesday that they plan to file lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies whose “unlawful acts caused and contributed to the opioid crisis.” -
Bensalem suing several pharmaceutical companies over 'false' claims of opioid benefits
Aug 30, 2017 | The Intelligencer
By Chris English
In a move described by township law enforcement and other officials as one of the most aggressive and proactive steps yet taken to fight the opioid epidemic, Bensalem is suing several prominent pharmaceutical companies for perpetuating the "false" claim that opioids are safe for the treatment of chronic pain. -
Bensalem is first Philly-area town to sue drugmakers for fueling opioid epidemic
Aug 30, 2017 | Philidelphia Inquirer
By Don Sapatkin
Bensalem Township plans to sue pharmaceutical manufacturers in the hope of recouping tens of millions of dollars spent fighting an opioid epidemic that officials say was fueled by greedy drug companies. -
Bensalem Will Sue Drug Companies Over Opioid Crisis
Aug 31, 2017 | WNPV
By News Director
One of Bucks County’s larger Townships is going after pharmaceutical companies by way of a lawsuit in connection with the opioid crisis and the costs associated with it. -
Bensalem Takes Aim At Drug Manufacturers Over Opioid Crisis
Aug 31, 2017 | CBS 3 Philidelphia
By Jim Melwert
Frustrated over the ongoing opioid crisis, a Bucks County community has announced that they’re planning to sue the pharmaceutical companies behind the pills. -
Officials in Bensalem take a stand against the opioid epidemic
Aug 30, 2017 | Fox 29 WTXF
A community is taking a stand against the opioid epidemic. Many wonder who is to blame for the spike in opioid related deaths. Is it the doctors who prescribe the drugs? Is it the victims who continue to use? Well, one local town is pointing the finger at pharmaceutical companies. -
Paying for Addiction: Bucks County Community Asks Big Pharma to Foot the Bill
Aug 30, 2017 | NBC 10
A Bucks County community hopes to recover some of the resources it has lost fighting the opioid epidemic by suing the makers of those pills. -
Bensalem targets Big Pharma with suit to recover millions it's spent dealing with opioid crisis
Aug 31, 2017 | Newsworks
By Dana Diflippo
Bensalem is poised to become the first local government in Pennsylvania to sue pharmaceutical companies in an effort to recover the millions it has spent to fight the opioid crisis. -
Bensalem to sue pharma companies over opioid crisis
Aug 30, 2017 | ABC 6 WPVI
Leaders in Bensalem Township, Bucks County are taking another step in fighting the opioid epidemic. -
More Opioid Makers Get Subpoenas From Missouri Attorney General
Aug 30, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Chris Dolmetsch
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley expanded his probe into the promotion of opioids by pharmaceutical companies, sending subpoenas to seven more drugmakers seeking information about how they market the painkillers. -
Hawley extends opioid investigation to 7 more companies
Aug 31, 2017 | Associated Press
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is widening his investigation of opioid manufacturers. -
Opioid Manufacturers; AG Josh Hawley Expands Opioid Marketing Investigation to Seven Additional Pharmaceutical Companies
Aug 30, 2017 | St. Louis News
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley continues to widen his investigation of opioid manufacturers, today announcing the issuance of civil investigative demands to seven major opioid manufacturers. These investigative demands require the manufacturers to provide documents and information relevant to the Attorney General Office’s ongoing investigation of the pharmaceutical industry’s marketing practices for opioids. -
Missouri attorney general's office announces investigation into opioid marketing
Aug 30, 2017 | Missourian
By Janice Zhou
Seven pharmaceutical companies will be required to turn over documents and information pertaining to their production and marketing of opioids as part of a statewide investigation, according to a Wednesday news release from Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley. -
Connecticut Communities Look To Sue Drug Makers Over Opioid Crisis
Aug 31, 2017 | Hartfort Courant
By Don Stacom
The city and as many as 24 other Connecticut communities will announce Thursday that they are suing major pharmaceutical companies over the opioid crisis. -
A Local Attorney Is Suing Big Pharma (OPINION)
Aug 30, 2017 | The Portland Mercury
By Vince Sliwoski
Jeff Sessions says we’re in the midst of a “historic drug epidemic.” Is he right? -
Fox 29 News at 5pm, 10pm, 4am, 5am
Aug 31, 2017 | WTXF (Fox)
By Philadelphia, PA
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NBC 10 News at 4pm
Aug 30, 2017 | WCAU (NBC)
By Philadelphia, PA
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CBS 3 Eyewitness News at 5 pm, 6pm, 5:30am
Aug 31, 2017 | KYW (CBS)
By Philadelphia, PA
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29115646?token=3592e678-507e-41f1-9a08-d4397abf7691 -
ABC 6 Action News at 4 pm
Aug 30, 2017 | WPVI (ABC)
By Philadelphia, PA
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29115650?token=3592e678-507e-41f1-9a08-d4397abf7691 -
CW Philly Eyewitness News at 10pm
Aug 30, 2017 | WPSG (CW)
By Philadelphia, PA
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29115653?token=3592e678-507e-41f1-9a08-d4397abf7691 -
WTAJ News at 5:30am
Aug 31, 2017 | WTAJ (CBS)
By Johnstown, Altoona, St. Colge, PA
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29115686?token=3592e678-507e-41f1-9a08-d4397abf7691 -
ABC 17 News in the Morning at 5pm, 9pm, 11pm, 7am, 8am, 9am
Aug 31, 2017 | KQFXLD (Fox)
By Columbia, MO
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29115919?token=3592e678-507e-41f1-9a08-d4397abf7691 -
Fox 14 Morning News at 6pm, 6am, 7am
Aug 31, 2017 | KFJX (Fox)
By Joplin, MO
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Fox 61 Morning News at 5:30 a.m., 7am, 8am
Aug 31, 2017 | WTIC (FOX)
By Hartford, New Haven, CT
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Broadcast Media Coverage
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Bensalem Announces Plans To Sue Drug Companies For Opioid Epidemic
Aug 30, 2017 | Levittown Now
By Tom Sofield & Erich martin
Bensalem officials announced Wednesday that they plan to file lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies whose “unlawful acts caused and contributed to the opioid crisis.”
The move from Bucks County’s largest municipality comes after the town has been hit hard by the opioid crisis that has enveloped the nation and killed thousands in the Philadelphia region.
The township has hired firm Young, Ricchiuti, Caldwell and Heller out of Philadelphia to handle the case. The civil case will not cost Bensalem taxpayers anything. The firm will only be paid if the case is won for the town, Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo said.
The mayor said the total damages Bensalem is seeking was not available, but officials believe the sum to be in the tens of millions.
As has been seen locally, opioid addiction often starts with prescription drugs that were stolen, taken from relatives and legally provided due to an ailment.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 3,200 Pennsylvanians died due to drug overdoses in 2015, an increase over previous years.
The suit – set to go after recognizable names including Johnson and Johnson, Purdue Pharma Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA – is set to hit the pharmaceutical companies by attacking their bottom lines and making sure they pay attention to the problem communities like Bensalem are facing. As much as making a statement to the targeted companies, making back taxpayer money spent on increased emergency service calls is a goal as well.
Last year, approximately 140 drug overdose deaths were investigated by the Bucks County Coroner’s Office, according to public records.
Between 2006 and 2016, Bensalem saw a 556 percent increase in emergency drug-related calls and a 153 percent increase in drug arrests.
“We are making more arrests and we are doing more outside of the box type thinking and finding rehabilitation for folks, but the numbers continue to rise,” explained Fred Harran, the director of public safety in Bensalem.
In all, law enforcement costs have risen above $200 million during the epidemic, Harran said.
Bensalem is not alone in filing claims against pharmaceutical companies, but is the first to do so in Pennsylvania, officials said.
Tiny Welch, West Virginia, filed lawsuits against five of the largest out-of-state pharmaceutical distributors in their area, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. The area is one of the hardest hit by the national opioid crisis.
The New York Daily News reported similar legal actions have been filed against pharmaceutical companies by Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York.
In Everett, Washington, officials sued the the manufacturer of OxyContin, an opioid that is commonly abused, claiming the company knew the drug was being trafficked illegally, an NPR article states.
Erie County in New York had reasoning similar to Bensalem’s when they filed a lawsuit earlier this year. In court filings, they claim that the pharmaceutical companies marketed their opioid painkillers despite knowing the addiction crisis and mislead the public about the dangers.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in June that his office is working with law enforcers in other states to investigate “whether manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing and sale of opioids.”
“The people peddling the drugs ripping apart our towns aren’t only on our street corners. Three out of four heroin users started by abusing prescription opioids, and our ongoing investigation is going straight into the boardrooms of pharmaceutical companies. We will follow the evidence to hold every person and every company responsible for this tragedy accountable on behalf of Pennsylvanians,” Shapiro said.
Bensalem has been a leader in Bucks County in dealing with the opioid crisis by working to investigate crimes caused by the epidemic. Police officers have worked to get drug users into treatment and made arrests of drug dealers throughout Bucks County. Bensalem first responders also carry doses of opioid overdose reversing drug and often make use of them to save individuals who are overdosing.
“I hope that we come out of here today understanding that this is not getting better,” DiGirolamo said. “It’s breaking my heart, and I know it is breaking a lot of other hearts.”
DiGirolamo and other Bensalem officials have been working towards Wednesday’s announcement for a few weeks. They settled on the date due to its timing with National Overdose Awareness Day, DiGirolamo said.
Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub was present at the conference, along with Bensalem State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson and others in support of the suit. Weintraub commented that as the situation stands with the suit right now, he could not comment on the appropriateness of criminal legal action.
Bensalem officials said the lawsuits are matters for the civil courts.
Before the end of the press conference, Mayor DiGirolamo called for the support of other local municipalities, indicating his intention to speak with Mayor Jim Kenney from Philadelphia on the issue.
Bucks County officials have been working with local leaders and law enforcement to try to slow the opioid epidemic in the area. Earlier this year, a Push Out the Pusher campaign began and the district attorney’s office hired six new detectives to form a drug task force that will complement municipal patrol officers and detectives.
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Bensalem suing several pharmaceutical companies over 'false' claims of opioid benefits
Aug 30, 2017 | The Intelligencer
By Chris English
In a move described by township law enforcement and other officials as one of the most aggressive and proactive steps yet taken to fight the opioid epidemic, Bensalem is suing several prominent pharmaceutical companies for perpetuating the "false" claim that opioids are safe for the treatment of chronic pain.
Bensalem Public Safety Director Fred Harran, Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo and other township, county and state officials announced the action at a news conference Wednesday afternoon at the township building.
Among the companies the township is going after are Purdue Pharma Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., Johnson & Johnsonand Endo Health Solutions Inc.
Also to be named as defendants in the lawsuit are "other companies and individuals whose unlawful acts caused and contributed to the opioid crisis," a news release from the township said.
"For years, companies like Purdue, often through front groups, worked to create the impression that opioids are safe for the treatment of chronic pain," it continued. "That simply is not accurate. The opioid makers also worked to create an impression that the risks for addiction are slight and could be fairly easily controlled. Again, this simply is not accurate."
Bensalem officials said the actions of the drug companies have contributed to the country facing the worst drug epidemic in its history.
"They (pharmaceutical companies) are creating a heroin problem with these opiates," said state Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-18, of Bensalem. "They have misled doctors and the public, and it's time they were held accountable for the damage they have done."
Nationally, overdose deaths from all drugs were about 52,000 and opioid overdose deaths about 35,000 in 2015, the last year for which data was available, according to the National Center for Disease Control.
Opioid overdoses killed 4,642 people in Pennsylvania last year, a 37 percent increase from 2015, according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency data. Bucks County had 168 drug-related deaths last year, according to coroner data.
In Bensalem, drug overdoses increased 556 percent in the 10 years from 2006 to 2016, from 30 in 2006 to 197 in 2016. Harran said he didn't know how many of those overdoses resulted in death. He also didn't know exactly how many involved opiates, but estimated it was 80 to 90 percent.
Harran said that among the factors contributing to the opiate and other drug problems in Bensalem are that the township borders Philadelphia, is close to Trenton and is right off both the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-95.
"We have about half the motels and hotels in Bucks County, and some of them aren't the best and don't have the best people staying in them," Harran said.
Joseph DiGirolamo estimated more than 200,000 people travel through Bensalem every day.
"And unfortunately, some of them who stop aren't doing that to make the township a better place to live," he said.
Gene DiGirolamo, who is Joseph's nephew, said the opioid crisis hits home for him and his family; his son, Gene Jr., is in long-term recovery from addictions to both opioid painkillers and heroin.
"It's breaking my heart and I know it's breaking a lot of other people's hearts," said Joseph DiGirolamo. "It has to stop. These drug makers have to understand what is happening and get a handle on it."
Gregory Heller, of the Philadelphia law firm of Young, Ricchiuti, Caldwell & Heller, is handling the suit for Bensalem on a contingency basis, meaning the firm is paid nothing if it doesn't win the case. The firm will collect between 10 and 40 percent of what Bensalem is awarded if it is successful in the suit, said DiGirolamo.
Heller said the amount of monetary damages the township is seeking still is being calculated.
Drug arrests in Bensalem increased 156 percent from 2006 to 2017, officials said. Harran estimated at the news conference that the township spent about $200 million on drug-related crime in that 10-year period from 2006 to 2016.
Heller said he didn't yet know when the suit would be filed — though he hoped it would be within weeks — and that it hasn't been determined what court it would be filed in.
Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub added that the pharmaceutical companies "care about profit and loss but to us it's more than dollars and cents."
"I'm very confident we'll be successful in this lawsuit," said Joseph DiGirolamo at the news conference. "This is Bensalem and we're not laying down. I'm not out here today to have fun."
Bensalem has been one of the most proactive townships in the state in fighting the opioid epidemic, officials at Wednesday's news conference they added, and has increased and expanded police efforts toward all aspects of the crisis.
"Despite these ongoing efforts, however, the crisis continues, and the time has now come to hold the the drug companies that have caused this problem accountable," Bensalem officials said in their news release.
"In its lawsuit, the township intends to pursue all available legal remedies against those whose unlawful conduct causes and contributes to the opioid crisis, including claims under the unfair trade practices and consumer protection law and claims for public nuisance, fraud and unjust enrichment."
Purdue Pharma Inc. spokesman John Puskar disagreed that pharmaceutical companies are to blame for the opioid epidemic in an email to this news organization.
"We share public officials' concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions," Puskar wrote. "OxyContin accounts for less than 2 percent 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."
This news organization was unsuccessful in reaching officials from the remaining pharmaceutical companies for comment on Wednesday.
In taking the action, Bensalem joins some other governmental entities in the country in taking legal action against pharmaceutical companies, claiming they have been major contributors to the opioid epidemic. The attorney general in Ohio took such an action, as have several counties in New York State in a class action lawsuit.
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Bensalem is first Philly-area town to sue drugmakers for fueling opioid epidemic
Aug 30, 2017 | Philidelphia Inquirer
By Don Sapatkin
Bensalem Township plans to sue pharmaceutical manufacturers in the hope of recouping tens of millions of dollars spent fighting an opioid epidemic that officials say was fueled by greedy drug companies.
Officials of the Bucks County township said they looked forward to becoming the first municipality in the Philadelphia region to join a small but growing list of states, counties, and towns seeking to slow the epidemic by forcing drug companies to pay.
“My frustration time is past what we can do,” Mayor Joe DiGirolamo said before a Wednesday news conference to announce the civil suit, adding that the township is paying “incredible costs” fighting the epidemic.
“Do you know what it’s like when he calls me at 10 at night,” DiGirolamo said, referring to the police chief, “and says, ‘Mayor, we had two overdoses today, one of them fatal?’ ”
Nonfatal overdoses in the township have risen 556 percent in a decade, officials said, and were in the hundreds last year; dozens died. Drug arrests increased 156 percent. Related police and emergency medical services alone have “cost Bensalem Township residents tens of millions of tax dollars,” officials said in a news release.
The suit, like others filed by Chicago, two California counties, the State of Ohio, and scattered municipalities, names four pharmaceutical manufacturers and related entities. By far the best known is Stamford, Conn.-based Purdue Pharma, which began marketing extended-release OxyContin in the mid-1990s, and whose executives have pleaded guilty to charges related to misleading physicians about the drug’s benefits and potential for addiction.
The three other manufacturers are located in the Philadelphia region or close to it: Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals, based in Titusville, N.J., which marketed Nucynta; Teva Pharmaceuticals, which has North American headquarters in North Wales and owns Cephalon Inc., maker of the fentanyl “lollipop” Actiq; and Endo Pharmaceuticals of Malvern, whose Opana ER was ordered removed from the market by the Food and Drug Administration in June.
The suits — and others targeting national distributors such as Chesterbrook-based AmerisourceBergen — are part of a growing movement to force manufacturers to change their practices and also reimburse localities for expenses such as police activity related to addiction, especially heroin.
Research shows that most new heroin users report having started on painkillers, usually with a prescription from a physician.
“I believe that 75 to 80 percent of all of the crime that we prosecute here in Bucks County is driven or fueled by alcohol or drug use or addiction,” District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub said. The crimes include DUI and possession cases as well as stealing, prostitution, and burglarizing, he said. While not involved with the township’s action, Weintraub said he supported it.
“It seems to me that while the drug companies seem to be interested in profit and loss, we’re battling life and death, and the drug companies are at least in part responsible for enabling so many people to become addicted to these opiates, and therefore they should bear some responsibility for helping us get out of this scourge,” Weintraub said.
A spokesman for Purdue Pharma said in an email: “While we vigorously deny the allegations, we share Bensalem Township officials’ concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions.”
A Teva spokeswoman wrote that the company was “committed to the appropriate promotion and use of opioids” and runs educational programs for “prescribers, pharmacists, and patients on the responsible and safe use of these products. We are committed to working with the health-care community, regulators and public officials to collaboratively find solutions.”
Janssen said that “opioid abuse is a serious public health issue that must be addressed” but that the allegations “are both legally and factually unfounded. Janssen has acted responsibly and in the best interests of patients and physicians with regard to these medicines, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about possible risks on every product label.”
“At Endo,” a spokeswoman said in an email, “our top priorities include patient safety and ensuring that patients with chronic pain have access to safe and effective therapeutic options. We share in the FDA’s goal of appropriately supporting the needs of patients with chronic pain while preventing misuse and diversion of opioid products. It is Endo’s policy not to comment on current litigation.”
Bensalem, with 62,000 residents, many in better-known areas like Levittown, has long struggled with addiction. It shares a border with Philadelphia and sits astride the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I-95, and Route 1. Just last month a woman was arrested for abandoning her 7-month-old baby in a Route 1 motel room littered with needles.
Opioids were largely unknown to the general public in 2001, when a Bensalem doctor named Richard G. Paolino was arrested and charged with running a cash practice that distributed hundreds of thousands of OxyContin tablets. The case was chronicled in a three-part Inquirer series. When he was convicted and sentenced to at least 30 years in prison, the judge called his penchant for supplying highly addictive drugs to patients with minor physical ailments “akin to killing a mouse with an atom bomb.” Paolino, 74, remains at the Houtzdale Correctional Institution, west of State College.
Over the years, State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo (R., Bucks), the mayor’s nephew, has given speeches on the floor of the House and submitted numerous bills, most recently one that would raise money to expand treatment by imposing a 10 percent impact fee on opioids sold in Pennsylvania.
“These drug companies have to take responsibility for what went on and what is going on. If they won’t, we have to force them,” said Rep. DiGirolamo, whose son is in recovery from heroin.
DiGirolamo said that his wish would be that multiple suits across the country lead to a master settlement like that negotiated with the tobacco industry.
That would be “the companies’ biggest fear,” said Roseann B. Termini, an adjunct professor at Widener University Delaware Law School and author of the textbook Food and Drug Law.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced in June that he is among the leaders of a group of more than 40 states that are aiming to do just that. New Jersey reportedly is among them.
In a statement released Wednesday, Shapiro said, “This is a big fight and it takes the chief law enforcement officers of states around the country working together to win it.”
The Bensalem suit is expected to be filed in state court within several weeks.
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Bensalem Will Sue Drug Companies Over Opioid Crisis
Aug 31, 2017 | WNPV
By News Director
One of Bucks County’s larger Townships is going after pharmaceutical companies by way of a lawsuit in connection with the opioid crisis and the costs associated with it.
Bensalem Township Mayor Joe GiGirolamo says, the Township is hiring attorneys to go after the big companies that manufacture and profit from opioid crisis. The companies being targeted include, Teva Pharmaceuticals, owner of a facility in Montgomery County, Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma, and Endo health solutions. Digirolamo says, taxpayer money will not be used in the lawsuit. The lawsuit has not yet released any details on the sum of money that Bensalem Township is seeking in the suit, but another official with the Township says, the costs associated with people addicted to opioids in the Township has led to a significant increase is expenditures on several levels, including public safety.
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Bensalem Takes Aim At Drug Manufacturers Over Opioid Crisis
Aug 31, 2017 | CBS 3 Philidelphia
By Jim Melwert
Frustrated over the ongoing opioid crisis, a Bucks County community has announced that they’re planning to sue the pharmaceutical companies behind the pills.
Bensalem Mayor Joe DiGirolamo says the goal of the suit is to recoup money paid out by Bensalem to fight the heroin and opioid crisis.
“Tens of millions of dollars have been spent by this community because of these drugs and how bad it is,” the mayor said.
There is no figure attached to the lawsuit yet, as officials say numbers are still being tabulated, but director of Bensalem Police Fred Harran says the costs are high.
“Two hundred-million-dollars approximately in law enforcement expenses over the last 10 years,” Harran said.
Side-by-side with other township leaders, DiGirolamo announced a massive civil lawsuit against at least four different pharmaceutical companies, including Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson.
“These distributors and drug makers have to take an obligation and understand what’s happening and get a handle on it,” the mayor said.
In 2016, 197 people overdosed from opioids in Bensalem Township, which was was 500-plus percent increase from 2006.
State Rep. Gen DiGirolamo fully supports the mayor’s plan. His son, who is in his 40s now, was a heroin addict for about three years.
“They know what they’ve been doing. They’ve been misrepresenting the dangers of these dangerous addictive drugs for years,” the state representative said.
Attorney Greg Heller, whose firm will represent the township pro bono, would not directly address what the suit alleges the pharmaceutical companies did, but says it will be similar to other lawsuits filed in other states.
“Nuisance, fraud negligence, in some situations, breach of contract,” said Heller.
In June, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office announced they’re one of “more than 40 states” looking into possible unlawful marketing by opioid manufacturers. The office says they believe a multi-state effort would be much more effective.
It’s unclear at this point when and where the suit will be filed.
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Officials in Bensalem take a stand against the opioid epidemic
Aug 30, 2017 | Fox 29 WTXF
A community is taking a stand against the opioid epidemic. Many wonder who is to blame for the spike in opioid related deaths. Is it the doctors who prescribe the drugs? Is it the victims who continue to use? Well, one local town is pointing the finger at pharmaceutical companies.
Bensalem's leaders say the opioid crisis is costing "tens of millions" of dollars they claim making arrests, offering prevention and treatment. Still, the bodies pile up.
"I am sick and tired of talking to parents here in Bensalem with dead kids due to this garbage," State Rep. Gene Digirolamo said.
So Wednesday, in the lobby of its municipal building its leaders fired their first salvo against big pharma.
"It's breaking my heart personally and I know it's breaking a lot of other hearts. We have to get on top of this situation," Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo said.
They'll sue says the mayor who today announced the hiring of a private law firm to bring legal action likely in weeks in state court. They'll name the biggest guns in the drug business like: Purdue Pharma and Johnson and Johnson.
Bensalem's new private attorney was careful not to show his hand.
FOX 29's Jeff Cole asked, "You believe they knew the addictive nature of this drug and didn't tell the public about it, correct ? "We intend to follow the evidence wherever it leads," attorney Gregory Heller said.
Township officials believe opioid makers underplayed the risk of addiction in an intense chase for profits. When the addicted couldn't get opioids they moved to buying heroin on the streets committing crime to get cash.
"People break into houses to get their next high. 80 percent of our instances are drug-related," Director of Police Fred Harran said.
Now, Bensalem says it wants its money back.
"We can change their policy. If they have to start paying money that's going to change their policy," DiGirolamo said.
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. released the following statement:
"We recognize opioid abuse is a serious public health issue that must be addressed. At the same time, we firmly believe the allegations in these lawsuits are both legally and factually unfounded. Janssen has acted responsibly and in the best interests of patients and physicians with regard to these medicines, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about possible risks on every product label. Janssen is committed to providing healthcare professionals with complete and accurate information on how to prescribe our opioid medications, which give doctors and patients important choices to help manage the debilitating effects of chronic pain, and we are continuing to work with stakeholders to support their safe and appropriate use."
• William Foster, spokesperson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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Paying for Addiction: Bucks County Community Asks Big Pharma to Foot the Bill
Aug 30, 2017 | NBC 10
A Bucks County community hopes to recover some of the resources it has lost fighting the opioid epidemic by suing the makers of those pills.
Bensalem Township intends to bring claims against several drug companies and their subsidiaries, including Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Johnson & Johnson and Endo Pharmaceuticals.
“It breaks my heart, personally, and I know it’s breaking a lot of other hearts,” Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo said. “We have to get on top of this situation.”
Bensalem will be the first municipality in Pennsylvania to pursue this kind of large-scale litigation. Similar efforts have already been waged in New Hampshire and Ohio.
“These drug companies misrepresented the dangers of these opiates not only to the public but to the doctors,” State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo said. “They had a misleading advertising campaign saying these things were safe.”
He witnessed the effects of addiction firsthand after his son battled with addiction for several years. Like so many others, DiGirolamo’s son began the path to addiction with painkillers.
“It’s just devastating,” he said. “It’s the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning and it’s the last thing you think about when you go to bed at night.”
In addition to the personal toll, the financial expense is becoming too great, officials said. Tens of millions of dollars that should have gone towards public safety in Bensalem Township has instead been used to fight addiction and related crime. Since 2006, there has been a 96 percent increase in drug-related calls. Emergency personnel have already spent $1.58 million since 2014 responding to those calls.
“Many of us have friends and family who are impacted,” Thomas Topley, a 30-year EMT, said. “Sometimes we’re at a house six, seven, eight times. What about the guy down the street having a heart attack?”
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro signaled he will also be joining the fight against certain pharmaceutical companies. He announced a “meaningful investigation into the manufacture, marketing and distribution” of opioids that will involve more than 40 state attorney generals.
“This is a big fight and it takes the chief law enforcement officers of states around the country working together to win it,” he said in a statement.
NBC10 reached out to several companies targeted by Bensalem officials. Purdue, Teva, Janssen and Johnson & Johnson denied any wrongdoing. Cephalon did not respond.
“We recognize opioid abuse is a serious public health issue that must be addressed. At the same time, we firmly believe the allegations in these lawsuits are both legally and factually unfounded,” a spokesman for Janssen said, adding that the company has “acted responsibility and in the best interests of patients and physicians."
“We share Bensalem Township officials’ concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions,” a spokesperson for Purdue said.
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Bensalem targets Big Pharma with suit to recover millions it's spent dealing with opioid crisis
Aug 31, 2017 | Newsworks
By Dana Diflippo
Bensalem is poised to become the first local government in Pennsylvania to sue pharmaceutical companies in an effort to recover the millions it has spent to fight the opioid crisis.
Mayor Joe DiGirolamo announced his plans Wednesday to sue more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies that he said played down the addiction risks of opioid drugs they made, marketed and distributed.
While the companies pocketed untold fortunes from the drugs, the country fell into the worst addiction crisis it have ever endured, complained DiGirolamo and other officials who joined him at an afternoon news conference at the township building in Bucks County.
Opioids are the main driver of drug deaths nationally. More than 4,600 people in Pennsylvania fatally overdosed last year, a 37 percent increase over the previous year.
“Our police department has taken on this problem and done everything they can,” DiGirolamo said, referring to prevention programs and tougher enforcement measures. “We’re at the end of the line. This is where we have to go next. Because they have done the education. They have done the prevention. They have done everything they can possibly do. It’s not working.”
Overdoses in Bensalem soared 556 percent, and drug arrests, 156 percent, in the past decade, said Fred Harran, the township’s public safety director. And Bensalem’s paramedics took more than 1,000 overdosing drug users to the hospital at a cost of more than $1 million. About 75 percent of that cost was not covered and had to be absorbed by taxpayers, the township’s EMS director Thomas Topley said.
Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said three-quarters of the crimes his office prosecutes are fueled by drugs or alcohol.
Pharmaceutical companies helped create an addiction crisis that kills an average of 13 Pennsylvanians a day, said state Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, whose district covers Bensalem.
“They’ve been misrepresenting the dangers of these dangerous addictive drugs for years and years,” said Gene DiGirolamo, the mayor’s nephew. “They’ve misled the public, they’ve misled the doctors, they’ve misled the medical professions. And it’s time that they’re held accountable and accept responsibility for the damage that they done.”
The mayor agreed: “This is Bensalem. We’re not laying down.”
Dozens of states continue investigation
A representative from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America couldn’t be reached for comment. But in a position paper on its website, the group advocates a “holistic approach” to controlling the opioid epidemic, including cracking down on pill mills and other sources of illicit drugs; expanding treatment options; and increasing access to drugs such as Narcan that reverse overdoses or treat addiction.
The announcement came one day before International Overdose Awareness Day. Bensalem officials say they aim to file their lawsuit within the next few weeks against companies including Purdue Pharma, the Purdue Frederick Co., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Cephalon, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Endo Health Solutions, Inc.
Gregory B. Heller, the township’s attorney, wouldn’t divulge further details about the case beyond his plan to include claims for public nuisance, fraud, unjust enrichment, and violations of the unfair trade practices and consumer protection law.
Pennsylvania already is part of a federal investigation of pharmaceutical companies, involving attorneys general from more than 40 states. That probe is examining what role drugmakers played in creating and prolonging the epidemic.
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro wouldn’t comment specifically on Bensalem’s lawsuit plans, but said: “We are a leader of the only meaningful investigation into the manufacture, marketing and distribution of opioid painkillers ... More than 40 state attorneys general are working collectively on this investigation. This is a big fight, and it takes the chief law enforcement officers of states around the country working together to win it.”
A handful of other cities and states have also taken their opioid fight to court, including Ohio, Illinois, Mississippi, and several counties in New York and California. Even the Cherokee Nation has joined the cause.
Mike Dunn, a spokesman for Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, wouldn’t comment on whether the city plans similar legal action, saying only: “The city is considering many ways to combat the epidemic.”
Some legal observers worry attorneys looking to cash in on any eventual settlements from Big Pharma could spur a flood of such lawsuits, and — if unsuccessful — such cases could set bad precedents.
Plenty of blame to go around
But Scott Burris, a Temple University law professor, said pharmaceutical companies do deserve some blame.
“There is no denying that Big Pharma marketed the heck out of opioids,” said Burris, who directs the Beasley Law School’s Center for Public Health Law Research. “There are grounds to sue the pharma companies for what they’ve done in the same way that there were grounds to sue asbestos makers and tobacco makers and even purveyors of fast food.”
But, the professor pointed out, what about doctors who prescribe opioids? Or the bad economy that makes vulnerable people more susceptible to addiction?
“While we point the writ at Big Pharma, we should also hold up the mirror to ourselves because the opioid epidemic is a symptom of a much more pervasive set of problems in our health care system, in our tax system, in our education system, in our country,” Burris said.
For now, Bensalem has no plans to go after doctors or anyone else. But there’s power in numbers, so they hope other municipalities will follow their lead — and sue Big Pharma too.
“Yes, this might be a David versus Goliath situation,” Weintraub said. “But we all know how that ended up. And I think this is just the first strike in Pennsylvania. Because I suspect, and I hope, and I pray, that there will be others who will join in this lawsuit or make similar lawsuits so that we all stand united and try to attack this issue at its root.”
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Bensalem to sue pharma companies over opioid crisis
Aug 30, 2017 | ABC 6 WPVI
Leaders in Bensalem Township, Bucks County are taking another step in fighting the opioid epidemic.
They are planning to sue at least six big-name pharmaceutical companies and their subsidiaries, including Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Endo Health Solutions.
The township says the companies spent years creating the impression that the drugs are safe treatments for pain.
Mayor Joe DiGirolamo is leading the way with plans for a lawsuit in the works.
"We are actually hiring counsel to go after these companies that manufacture and deliver these opioids," he said. "This crisis is not getting better."
The mayor says no taxpayer money is being used in this legal battle.
In addition to the lawsuit, Bensalem Police have stepped up their own efforts to combat the epidemic.
They are working close with prevention programs and treatment centers. -
More Opioid Makers Get Subpoenas From Missouri Attorney General
Aug 30, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Chris Dolmetsch
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley expanded his probe into the promotion of opioids by pharmaceutical companies, sending subpoenas to seven more drugmakers seeking information about how they market the painkillers.
Allergan Plc, Depomed Inc., Insys Therapeutics Inc., Mallinckrodt Plc, Mylan NV, Pfizer Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. were sent subpoenas from Hawley, a Republican. In June, he sued Purdue Pharma Inc., Endo International Plc and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. for allegedly misrepresenting the dangers of the opioids they sell, according to a statement from the attorney general.
Hawley is among officials in more than 20 U.S. states that have taken aim at drugmakers, claiming they fueled a public-health crisis with misleading marketing and aggressive distribution of opioids. South Carolina this month became the sixth state to sue pharmaceutical companies alleging they have created a public health crisis.
In addition to the companies’ marketing practices, Hawley requested information about their involvement with industry organizations that promoted opioids.
“Our office is dedicated to stemming the tide of opioid abuse in Missouri,” Hawley said in a statement.Company Statements
Allergan said in a statement that it fully intends to cooperate with Hawley on the matter. The company said its two branded opioid products, Norco and Kadian, account for less than 0.1 percent of all such products sold in the U.S.
“Allergan has a history of supporting -- and continues to support -- the safe, responsible use of prescription medications," the company said.
Mallinckrodt said in a statement posted on its website that it believes it has acted and continues to act "lawfully and responsibly." The company said its generic and branded opioids account for less than 10 percent of sales.
"We recognize that the opioid epidemic is a complex and confounding problem, and no one policy initiative or program will solve it," the company said.
Mylan declined to comment on the subpoena, spokeswoman Nina Devlin said.
"Teva is committed to the appropriate promotion and use of opioids," spokeswoman Denise Bradley said in an email.
Representatives of the three other companies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Big Pharma’s Tobacco Moment as Star Lawyers Push Opioid Suits
Hawley’s suit was filed just days after a bipartisan group of states led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey began issuing subpoenas for documents and testimony to opiod makers, without naming any of her targets. There were more than 22,000 deaths in the U.S. from prescription opioids in 2015, an increase from 19,000 in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The case is Missouri v. Purdue Pharma LP, 1722-CC10626, Missouri Circuit Court, St. Louis.
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Hawley extends opioid investigation to 7 more companies
Aug 31, 2017 | Associated Press
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is widening his investigation of opioid manufacturers.
Hawley, a Republican, said Wednesday he is asking seven additional companies for information related to their opioid marketing practices and their involvement with industry organizations that promote opioids. The companies are Allergan, Depomed, Insys, Mallinckrodt, Mylan, Pfizer, and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
Hawley in June sued three other companies, saying they violated state consumer protection laws by misleading doctors and consumers in misrepresenting risks posed by opioids. Those companies are Endo Pharmaceuticals, Purdue Pharma, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
Hawley says in a statement that the goal of the investigation is to make Missouri healthier and help end the opioid epidemic.
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Aug 30, 2017 | St. Louis News
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley continues to widen his investigation of opioid manufacturers, today announcing the issuance of civil investigative demands to seven major opioid manufacturers. These investigative demands require the manufacturers to provide documents and information relevant to the Attorney General Office’s ongoing investigation of the pharmaceutical industry’s marketing practices for opioids.
The office issued investigative demands to Allergan, Depomed, Insys, Mallinckrodt, Mylan, Pfizer, and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
“Our office is dedicated to stemming the tide of opioid abuse in Missouri,” Hawley said. “We hope that our continuing investigation will aid the fight to build a healthier Missouri and end this epidemic in our state.”
Today’s investigative demands seek documents and information related to the companies’ opioid marketing practices and their involvement with industry organizations that promoted opioids.
In June, Hawley filed a lawsuit against three large drug manufacturing companies—Purdue Pharma, Endo, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals—in the Circuit Court of St. Louis City. That lawsuit alleges, among other things, that the defendants fraudulently misrepresented serious risks posed by the opioids that they manufacture and sell.
“Our state faces an urgent public-health crisis brought on by fraud. Our investigation into those companies that manufacture and market opioids is ongoing,” Hawley said. “We must put an end to this crisis as we fight for the thousands of lives endangered by the opioid epidemic.”
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Missouri attorney general's office announces investigation into opioid marketing
Aug 30, 2017 | Missourian
By Janice Zhou
Seven pharmaceutical companies will be required to turn over documents and information pertaining to their production and marketing of opioids as part of a statewide investigation, according to a Wednesday news release from Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley.
The attorney general’s office is investigating Allergan, Depomed, Insys, Mallinckrodt, Mylan, Pfizer and Teva Pharmaceuticals. The investigation will examine the marketing of opioids, as well as the sale, advertisement and the promotion of the drugs.
“The attorney general has reason to believe that (the companies have) used deception, fraud, false promise, misrepresentation, unfair practices, and/or the concealment, suppression or omission of material facts in connection with the sale or advertisement of opioids,” according to the Civil Investigative Demand provided by the Missouri attorney general’s office.
The documents Hawley is requesting aren’t only written materials — the request includes writings, recordings and photographs, according to the demand. The documents may also include any electronic documents, files and records, including voicemails, emails, text messages and computer files.
Hawley asked the companies to produce the following documents by 10 a.m. Oct. 2:
Every opioid they have produced or distributed since 2010
Doctors they have interacted with concerning opioids since 2010
Any in-person advertising relating to opioids that has occurred since 2010
Medical education programs dealing with opioids or pain management that the companies have played a role in
Websites they have created or maintained related to opioids or pain management
Advertisements or promotional materials they have created or distributed connected to opioids since 2010
Documents regarding the safety and dosage of opioids
Payments received from the state since 2007
Documents related to opioids that discuss “pseudoaddiction”
Payments made to doctors in exchange for promotion, advertising or evaluation of opioids.
Hawley sued three other pharmaceutical companies — Purdue Pharma, Endo Health Solutions and Janssen pharmaceuticals — in June for misrepresenting the risks that come with the drugs they manufacture and sell.
“Our office is dedicated to stemming the tide of opioid abuse in Missouri,” Hawley said in a statement. “We hope that our continuing investigation will aid the fight to build a healthier Missouri and end this epidemic in our state.”
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Connecticut Communities Look To Sue Drug Makers Over Opioid Crisis
Aug 31, 2017 | Hartfort Courant
By Don Stacom
The city and as many as 24 other Connecticut communities will announce Thursday that they are suing major pharmaceutical companies over the opioid crisis.
Similar to lawsuits filed by dozens of states, counties and cities elsewhere in the country, Waterbury intends to claim drug manufacturers helped create the opioid addiction epidemic through fraudulent marketing.
Representatives from Bridgeport, Bristoland a series of towns, small cities and mid-sized suburbs will attend a morning meeting at city hall to talk about possibly pursuing a joint lawsuit.
"Our police are responding to overdose calls, our hospitals have to deal with them — it's becoming an epidemic across the country. It's time we got ahead of it," said Bristol Mayor Ken Cockayne, who said his city will join Waterbury as a plaintiff.
"The opioid crisis is taking resources that could be used elsewhere. But even more than that, it's destroying the fabric of families," Cockayne said.
Officials in Waterbury, Connecticut's fifth-largest city, are not disclosing details about the lawsuit yet. On Thursday — International Overdose Awareness Day — they expect to publicly name the defendants and reveal specifics about the accusations against them.
Prospective plaintiffs range from affluent shoreline suburbs to blue-collar Naugatuck Valley towns.
Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary has invited attorneys Paul J. Hanly Jr., a partner in Simmons Hanly Conroy; and Jim Hartley, a partner in Drubner, Hartley, & Hellman, to talk beforehand with mayors and first selectmen about the potential expenses and timetable of the lawsuit.
Communities that are sending representatives include Torrington, Milford, Bristol, Manchester, Bridgeport, Darien, Portland, Fairfield, Ridgefield, Seymour, New Milford, Tolland, Roxbury, Manchester, Naugatuck, Oxford, Woodbury, Plainville, Suffield, Cheshire, Wallingford, Coventry, Durham and New Fairfield.
Some of those are certain to join the suit while others plan to get more information Thursday.
"We're signing on for sure. Our council already voted unanimously," said David Gronbach, mayor of New Milford.
"We have people dying in New Milford, and we're at the breaking point. I really want to thank Mayor O'Leary for taking the lead. We need pressure through the court so we can get some resources to put education and treatment in place," Gronbach said.
"Look at the municipalities on the list. We don't agree on other issues, but we come to together on this. It's an epidemic that's hitting all of us in one way or another," Gronbach said. "When people are dying and suffering in our communities, it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal."
Cheshire Mayor Michael Milone said he is attending the meeting Thursday to learn more so he can make a recommendation to the town council on Sept. 12.
"We want to do anything we can to address this. I've had four or five deaths in the last six months that were opioid-related. They're not all young — they're in their late 20s to mid-40s, an age group that I didn't even realize it was reaching," Milone said.
In Oxford, where a spate of opioid-related deaths last year left the small town reeling, selectman George Temple said, "this is something we've been wanting — needing — to do for a long time." His town lost seven men, all in their twenties or early thirties, to opioid overdoses last year.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that opioids were linked to more than 33,000 deaths in 2015. In the past year, lawsuits against major opioid producers have been filed by South Carolina, Ohio, Missouri, numerous county governments and a series of municipalities including Chicago.
Missouri is suing Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson and units of Endo International Plc, claiming they knew their products were addictive and potentially dangerous. The suit accuses them of fraud to keep that information from doctors and patients.
Defendants in those cases have denied misconduct and said their products were approved by the FDA.
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A Local Attorney Is Suing Big Pharma (OPINION)
Aug 30, 2017 | The Portland Mercury
By Vince Sliwoski
Yes, but only accidentally. When Sessions talks about “drugs,” he’s talking about federally banned substances, like cocaine, LSD, and cannabis. We know this because Sessions cited the “historic drug epidemic” in a recent failed effort to drum up cash from Congress to enforce the Controlled Substance Act (including going after medical cannabis distributors). If your attorney general really cared about the drug epidemic, though, he’d be doing what another attorney named Nick Kahl is doing, right here in Portland: suing the pants off of Big Pharma and everyone else involved in pushing prescription opioids for the last few decades.
Full disclosure: I have never met Nick Kahl, but from what I can see online, I like him because: (1) He grew up in East Portland and graduated from David Douglas High School; (2) he’s wearing a hoodie and holding a skateboard on his law firm website; and (3) he represents Multnomah County in a $250 million lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and doctors. The complaint is well drafted, and if you care about your community, wish Nick and the county luck.
The statistics related to opioid abuse in America are brutal. Opioids are the most prescribed class of substances, and they generated $11 billion in revenue for drug companies in 2014 alone. The year prior, 254 million prescriptions for opioids were filled in this country—enough to medicate all of us around the clock for a year. And today, some two million Americans either abuse or depend upon opioids. Probably the worst statistic of all, though, is this: According to the Centers for Disease Control, the opioid crisis kills 146 Americans daily.
Somehow Jeff Sessions doesn’t factor in opioids when he considers the “historic drug epidemic.” He seems more concerned with cannabis, a substance that, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has never caused an overdose. To be clear, the DEA is no friend of cannabis, and never has been. But facts are stubborn things.
According to its website, the mission of Sessions’ Department of Justice (DOJ) is to “ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide leadership in preventing and controlling crime; [and] to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior.” That’s what Multnomah County is doing in its public-interest lawsuit. Jeff Sessions could do something similar and continue the DOJ tradition of prosecuting bad public health actors, as it did with Big Tobacco. But Sessions seems cool with opioids.
The pharmaceutical companies and doctors who fuel the opioid epidemic know what they’re doing, and they cause colossal public harm. As for medical cannabis promoters, studies show that states with these programs see a decrease in opioid dependence and deaths. Hopefully, these trends continue. It’s a shame Sessions doesn’t take an interest in the same historic drug epidemic as the rest of us.
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Fox 29 News at 5pm, 10pm, 4am, 5am
Aug 31, 2017 | WTXF (Fox)
By Philadelphia, PA
Rough Transcript: "happening now, community is taking a stand against the opioid epidemic sweeping the country, and many wonder who is to blame for the spike in opioid relate the deaths. >> as pennsylvania's attorney general continues to crack down on medical professionals themselves, one local city is pointing the finger at pharmaceutical companies. fox 29's jeff cole live in bensalem with the very latest. jeff, what's going on. >> reporter: lucy, bensalem is poised to become the first pennsylvania municipality to file a lawsuit against big farmer because of the opioid cris. 5:19 PMgoing so far as hiring a private law firm in willing to pay them 40% of any payouts if it changes things. bensalem's leaders say the opioid crisis is bleeding them costing tens of millions of dollars they claim making arrest arrests, offering prevention and treatment still the bodies pile up. >> i am sick and tired of talking to parents here in bensalem with dead kids from this garbage. >> reporter: wednesday in the lobby of its municipal building it's leasts fired their salvo against big pharma. >> it's breaking my heart personally and i know it's break ago lot of other hearts. we have to get on top of this situation. >> reporter: they'll sue says the mayor who today announced the hiring avenue private law firm to bring legal action likely in weeks in state court. they'll name the biggest guns in the drug business like purdue pharma and johnson & johnson. bensalem's new private attorney 5:20 PMwas careful not to show his hand hand. >> do you believe that they knew the addictive nature of this drug and didn't tell the public about it? correct? >> we intend to follow the evidence wherever it leads. >> reporter: township officials believe opioid makers under played the risk of addiction in an intense chase for profits when the addicted couldn't get opioids they moved to buying heroin on the streets committing crime to get cash. >> people break into houses to get their next high. so we've seen about 85 -- 80% of our incidents are drug related. >> reporter: now bensalem says, it wants its money back. >> if we could change their policy if they have to start paying money that will change the policy. >> reporter: now, calls to perdue and johnson & johnson were not immediately returned for comment. interesting statement today by the democratic attorney general in the state josh shapiro. he's part of a group of attorneys general who are investigating opioids. his press person said today their investigation is the only meaningful investigation saying that this is big job and it will take the law enforcement officers the chief law enforcement officers across the country including shapiro to win it. live in bensalem, i'm jeff cole. more reporting at 6:00. folks, back to you. >> this is very similar to the folks taking on big tobacco back in the day."
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Aug 30, 2017 | WCAU (NBC)
By Philadelphia, PA
Rough Transcript: "20 minutes of nonstop news continues with the city fighting back against the opioid epidemic. bensalem leaders have spent tens of millions in taxpayer dollars to fight the cris. and now they are looking to get that money back. deanna durante is joining us live with more on the city's plan that takes aim at major pharmaceutical companies. >> reporter: they want to take those companies to court saying they blame them for e getting people hooked and they want money back to pay back the taxpayers who have been stuck footing the bill. >> it's devastating. i tell everybody. it's the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning and last thing you think about when you go to bed at night. >> reporter: he's known as a long time state representative but he's also a dad that watched his son struggle with drug addiction. >> these drug companies misrepresented the dangers of 4:09 PMthese opiates not only to the public, but to the doctors. they had a misleading advertising campaign saying they were perfectly safe. >> his son began the task with painkillers he thought were safe. >> we have to get on top of this situation. >> arrests are up and so is drug-related crime. they have narcan, an. antidote that can reverse an od. and they say use is up, way up. but all of that costs money. >> when we start talking about the opioids, we're talking about tens of millions of dollars that comes out of our taxpayers. >> because they are not paying it back, they are going after deeper pockets. they are filing suit against major drug makers to sell and market prescription painkillers. >> they knew these were highly addictive and wanted to sell more of these. they had salespeople out there to the medical profession telling them to prescribe more that these things are safe. >> while this effort is centered here in bensalem, we have learned that they were involved in a criminal investigation into drug companies saying that it is a meaningful investigation and they are banning together to work on this. we reached out to many companies. we have gotten two responses. both companies say they disagree with the allegations and are committed to responsible drug use. reporting live, deanna durante, nbc 10 news. >>> nbc 10 digital team is committed to covering the impact of the opioid epidemic on our area. read their award-winning repo reporting advocating for change."
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CBS 3 Eyewitness News at 5 pm, 6pm, 5:30am
Aug 31, 2017 | KYW (CBS)
By Philadelphia, PA
Rough Transcript: "bensalem township is taking a bold step in the fight against opioid addiction they are suing big farm a greg argos joins us with more on the legal action that is plan, greg. >> reporter: ukee, good afternoon this lawsuit has not yet been filed but we are told it will be filed in the next few weeks but it is going after four major pharmaceutical co, putting the blame on them for this opioid cris and asking for tense of millions of dollars in damages 6:06 PMa 2016, 197 people overdosed from opioid in bensalem township. more than 500 percent increase from 2006. state representative gene de girl an mow's son was not one. >> when we were first away, de girl mow is now in his 40's but heroin addict for three years until state representative knows firsthand the impact opioid addiction has on families. >> when you go to bed at night it is last thing you think about report rorrer he is fully supporting the mayor's plan to sue big pharma. >> they know what they have been doing. they have been misrepresenting the dangers of these dangerous , addictive drugs. >> we're actually hiring council, to go against these companies. >> reporter: wednesday bensalem mayor joseph degirl an mow announce aid massive civil lawsuit against four different pharmaceutical companies. >> these distributors and drug makers have to take an obligation and understand what is happening. >> reporter: suit has not yet 6:07 PMbeen filed but mayor says it will ask for 10s of millions of dollars to help recoup police, e ms cost for responding to drug-related calls. >> who is paying for this? the senior that is on a fix income. residents of bensalemtownship >> reporter: attorney greg heller whose firm will represent the township pro bono would not address what the suit alleged that the pharmaceutical companies did but it will be similar to other lawsuits filed in other states. >> nuisance, fraud, negligence , and some situations breach of contract. >> the drug companies cannot hide behind people are dying and the crimes or because of the heroin. they are creating the heroin problem. >> reporter: pennsylvania attorney general, josh shapiro says his office is also working on a separate investigation into these pharmaceutical co, with 40 other attorneys general. we also reached out to johnson and johnson, one of the pharmaceutical companies mentioned in this civil lawsuit and a spokesperson there says she is allegations are legally and factually unfounded. we are live from bensalem township."
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Aug 30, 2017 | WPVI (ABC)
By Philadelphia, PA
Rough Transcript: "leaders in bensalem, bucks county, are taking another step in fighting the opioid epidemic. going after at least six big name pharmaceutical companies and their subsidiaries. including purdue and johnson & johnson. the township says that the company spent years creating the impression that the drugs are safe to treat for pain. he is leading the plans for the lawsuit in the works. >> we are actually hiring council to go against these companies that manufacturer and deliver these opioids. this crisis is not getting better. > the mayor says that no taxpayer money is used in this legal battle and in addition to the lawsuit bensalem police stepped up their efforts to combat the epidemic."
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CW Philly Eyewitness News at 10pm
Aug 30, 2017 | WPSG (CW)
By Philadelphia, PA
Rough Transcript: "bensalem is suing pharmaceutical companies over the opioid addiction epidemic. announce, the civil lawsuit that suit names at least four pharmaceutical companies including purdue, pharmacia and johnson and johnson. >> they know what they've been doing. they've been misrepresenting the dangerous of these dangerous addictive drugs >> these distributors and drug makers have to take an obligation and understand witness happening. >> the suit has not yet been filed but the mayor says it will ask for tens of millions to help recoup police and ems costs for responding to drug related calls which has doubled over the past decade."
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Aug 31, 2017 | WTAJ (CBS)
By Johnstown, Altoona, St. Colge, PA
Rough Transcript: "meanwhile in bucks county, a township is getting ready to sue pharmaceutical companies over the opioid cris.. bensalem township is just northeast of philadelphia, and last year almost 200 people died there because of opioid overdoses.. at least 4 different pharmaceutical companies will be the targets of that lawsuit.. the township's mayor says the area plans to ask for tens of millions of dollars, to help cover the cost of police and ems responses made because of overdoses."
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ABC 17 News in the Morning at 5pm, 9pm, 11pm, 7am, 8am, 9am
Aug 31, 2017 | KQFXLD (Fox)
By Columbia, MO
Rough Transcript: "missouri's attorney general is expanding an investigation into opioids manufacturers in the state. attorney general josh hawley announced yesterday he's asking 7 more companies about information on their opioid marketing practices. in june, hawley announced he was suing 3 companies, saying they mislead doctors and patients by misrepresenting the risks of opioids. hawley says his goal with the investigation is to make missouri a healthier state."
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Fox 14 Morning News at 6pm, 6am, 7am
Aug 31, 2017 | KFJX (Fox)
By Joplin, MO
Rough Transcript: "missouri attorney general josh holly is widening his investigation of opioid manufacturers. holly is asking seven additional companies for information related to their opioid marketing practices. and their involvement with industry organizations that promote opioids. in june, holly issued three other companies saying they misled doctors and consumers about the risk of opioids."
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Fox 61 Morning News at 5:30 a.m., 7am, 8am
Aug 31, 2017 | WTIC (FOX)
By Hartford, New Haven, CT
Rough Transcript: "The city of waterbury is filing a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies... for the fraudulent marketing of prescription opioids. they say that is a leading cause of the drug epidemic in the country. waterbury is only one death from surpassing their total deaths from 20- 16... just in the first half of this year. waterbury mayor, neil o'leary will hold a press conference today to further discuss the lawsuit."
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