Preview Newsletter
Opioids (9/7/17)
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Anne Arundel hires lawyers to pursue opioid distributors, manufacturers and prescribers
Sep 6, 2017 | Capital Gazette
By Phil Davis
Anne Arundel County officials took a step Wednesday toward suing doctors, manufacturers and others who make, distribute and prescribe opioid painkillers contributing to the rampant abuse of the drugs in the county. -
Anne Arundel County Announces Planned Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers, Distributors and Local “Pill Mill” Doctors
Sep 7, 2017 | Southern Maryland News Net
Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh, along with other county officials, announced today the County has hired the law firm Motley Rice to pursue legal action against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and local “pill mill” doctors -
Anne Arundel County filing lawsuit to fight opioid epidemic
Sep 6, 2017 | WBAL TV 11
By Kate Amara
Anne Arundel County is filing a civil lawsuit as part of a major new strategy in its fight against the growing opioid epidemic. -
Md. County Sues Drug Companies, Doctors For Over-Prescribing Potent Pills
Sep 6, 2017 | CBS Baltimore
By Jonathan McCall
Anne Arundel County leaders are taking aim at drug companies and so called “Pill Mill doctors” through a first of it’s kind lawsuit in Maryland that holds them accountable for the state’s growing opioid epidemic. -
Anne Arundel County plans to sue big pharma and pill mill doctors for the opioid epidemic
Sep 6, 2017 | WMAR 2 Baltimore
By Catherine Hawley
It's a problem that's out of control. In 2015, there were enough doses of opioids prescribed in Anne Arundel County to give every resident a two-week supply of pills. -
Bernalillo County to sue drug companies over opioid addiction
Sep 6, 2017 | KOB 4
By JR Oppenheim
In the battle against opioid addiction, the Bernalillo County Commission says it will take pharmaceutical companies to court. -
Bernalillo County latest to sue opioid makers over marketing
Sep 6, 2017 | Associated Press
New Mexico’s most populous county is taking the lead of one of its smallest in planning to sue opioid manufacturers over marketing practices officials say have led to soaring numbers of overdoses. -
Bernalillo County to join in swell of lawsuits against opioid makers
Sep 6, 2017 | Albuquerque Journal
By Maggie Shepard
Bernalillo County has now joined the growing list of local governments suing opioid pharmaceutical manufacturing companies and distributors. -
Senator Reveals First Findings in Opioids Inquiry
Sep 6, 2017 | US News
By Katelyn Newman
Insys Therapeutics systemically manipulated authorization for its fentanyl drug Subsys without proper compliance measures to keep it in check, according to Missouri's senior Democratic senator's recently released report. -
Explosive Leaked Audio Reveals The Moment A Drug Company Lied About A Patient Having Cancer To Get Them Opioids (OPINION)
Sep 6, 2017 | Business Insider
By Linette Lopez
Senator Claire McCaskill's office on Wednesday released audio that explains how many in America fell victim to the opioid crisis. -
There's only one deadly conspiracy Americans really need to think about (OPINION)
Sep 7, 2017 | Business Insider
By Linette Lopez
America in 2017 is a volley of ridiculous conspiracies. I'd list them, but I get angry just thinking about them. -
Sen. McCaskill's office releases audio recording of Insys employee persuading PBM to approve off-label fentanyl use
Sep 7, 2017 | Becker's Hospital Review
By Brian Zimmerman
The first report produced by the opioid investigation spearheaded by Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., highlights the lengths Chandler, Ariz.-based Insys Therapeutics went to garner approval for its fentanyl-based painkiller Subsys. -
First Annual Fed-Up Rally
Sep 6, 2017 | Branford Eagle
By Sally E. Bahner
“Fed Up” with the epidemic of opioid use in town and in the state a small group of concerned citizens gathered on the green last week for the first annual International Overdose Awareness Day. -
Darien eyes joining class action drug suit
Sep 6, 2017 | Darien News Online (CT)
By Roby Ryser and Justin Papp
Town leaders remain undecided as to whether they will join a lawsuit aimed at makers of pain killers “aggressively and misleadingly marketed” said to have contributed to the opioid epidemic. -
WMAR News Good Morning Maryland at 5:30am
Sep 7, 2017 | WMAR (ABC)
By Baltimore, MD
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29218978?token=c6839e17-d0c8-44e6-9388-b8f1c55e30f8 -
WBAL 11 News at 5pm, 6pm, 11pm, 4am, 5am
Sep 7, 2017 | WBAL (NBC)
By Baltimore, MD
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29218987?token=c6839e17-d0c8-44e6-9388-b8f1c55e30f8 -
WJZ Eyewitness News at 5pm and 6pm
Sep 7, 2017 | WJZ (CBS)
By Baltimore, MD
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29219029?token=c6839e17-d0c8-44e6-9388-b8f1c55e30f8 -
KOAT Action 7 News More in the Morning 10pm, 7:30am, 8am,
Sep 7, 2017 | KOAT (ABC)
By Albuquerque, NM
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29218943?token=c6839e17-d0c8-44e6-9388-b8f1c55e30f8 -
KOB Eyewitness News Today at 1pm and 7:30am
Sep 6, 2017 | KOB (NBC)
By Albuquerque, NM
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29218940?token=c6839e17-d0c8-44e6-9388-b8f1c55e30f8 -
WLBT News at 10pm
Sep 7, 2017 | WLBT (NBC)
By Jackson, MS
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29219020?token=c6839e17-d0c8-44e6-9388-b8f1c55e30f8
Traditional Media Coverage
Broadcast Media Coverage
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Anne Arundel hires lawyers to pursue opioid distributors, manufacturers and prescribers
Sep 6, 2017 | Capital Gazette
By Phil Davis
Anne Arundel County officials took a step Wednesday toward suing doctors, manufacturers and others who make, distribute and prescribe opioid painkillers contributing to the rampant abuse of the drugs in the county.
County Executive Steve Schuh announced during a news conference in Annapolis he has hired the Washington-based Motley Rice law firm to investigate and sue opioid manufacturers, distributors and local “pill mill” doctors.
Schuh said he expects the investigation to result in lawsuits but did not give a timetable when to expect litigation. If Motley Rice follows through on the lawsuits, Anne Arundel could be the first county in Maryland to take the pharmaceutical industry and doctors to court.
Schuh would not say what individuals or companies the county is targeting.
Calling opioid addiction “the most pressing challenge facing Anne Arundel County today,” Schuh railed against fraudulent science pushed by manufacturers and doctors who knowingly prescribe painkillers to people addicted to painkillers.
“We need to send a message in one strong, united voice that misleading and deceptive marketing practices are unacceptable in this county and in our country,” Schuh said, adding that the overprescription of opioid painkillers has “helped ignite and have radically amplified this crisis in Maryland and here in Anne Arundel County.”
He added that Attorney General Brian Frosh has been notified of the county’s actions and his office intends to work with Anne Arundel.
County Health Officer Fran Phillips cited a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that reported 75 percent to 80 percent of people addicted to opioids in the 2000s started their addictions while on prescription drugs.
“Incredibly, in 2015, there were enough opioids prescribed in this county to give each county resident a two-week supply,” Phillips said. “While opioids can provide valid pain relief in certain medical circumstances, our overall rates are entirely unwarranted, and we are seeing red flags in the prescribing practices of certain local prescribers.”
Motley Rice attorney Elizabeth Smith gave few specifics about the scope of the potential litigation and demurred at the idea of comparing it to other lawsuits her firm has handled on behalf of municipalities and states.
She also cautioned any lawsuit could take a substantial time. Her firm is representing the city of Chicago, which sued five opioid drugmakers in 2014. The case is ongoing.
Two women whose sons developed drug addictions after being prescribed opioid painkillers spoke about their experiences at the news conference.
Denise Williams said one of her twin sons was prescribed “unlimited opiates” after being in a serious car accident, which required seven operations and intense physical therapy.
“We trusted the doctor that everything’s OK and while he was given unlimited (opiates), he was also given multiple types of opiates all at the same time,” she said.
She said her son eventually began using heroin and gave some to his brother. That son died in 2015 of an opioid overdose, leaving behind a 9-year-old son.
“I’ve lost one son and I live in fear I’m going to lose the second one because he can’t live with what happened to his brother and the damage these opiates have done to him,” Williams said.
Anne Arundel had the third largest number of fatal overdose deaths in the state in 2016 at 119. This year appears to be seeing a similar pace, with 92 overdoses as of Aug. 23, according to Anne Arundel police.
With the problem worsening in recent years, medical and county officials point to prescription opioids as a significant factor in the rise of deaths.
State and federal law enforcement and health officials have argued the overprescription of opioid painkillers can lead to abuse and eventual addiction to the drugs, turning some people to cheaper street drugs such as heroin once a prescription runs out.
Schuh said the lawsuits could target those on all sides of the prescription industry rather than just focusing on “pill mill” doctors, a term used to describe doctors and prescribers believed to be either illegally or unethically giving patients prescription opioids.
But he said that while the investigation has not singled out individual manufacturers or distributors yet, the county has identified prescribers who officials believe to be overprescribing opioid painkillers.
Last month, federal and state authorities charged doctors in Annapolis and Bel Air with more than a quarter-million doses of illegally prescribed painkillers and sedatives in recent years, compounding the state’s opioid epidemic, investigators said Thursday.
The doctors were indicted on charges of selling prescriptions for cash — one man allegedly dealing out of his Mercedes — in separate schemes that investigators said caused two deaths, attracted pill-hungry customers from as far away as Youngstown, Ohio, and transformed the grounds outside a North Baltimore clinic into an open-air drug market with unruly crowds.
Americans account for 5 percent of the world’s population but consume 98 percent of narcotic painkillers Oxycodone and Hydrocodone, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
DEA agents partnered with local police and the attorney general’s office to build the cases against the doctors.
Dr. Kofi Shaw-Taylor, a 67-year-old urologist from Annapolis, was charged with 289 counts of drug offenses, Medicare fraud and conspiracy. In another case, Dr. Hasan Babaturk, a 60-year-old from Bel Air, faces 21 drug charges. Online court records did not list attorneys for the two men.
The two cases are among the first indictments from a partnership of local police and federal agents working to stem the tide of overdose deaths in Maryland. Opioid deaths nearly tripled in the last decade, climbing from about 630 in 2007 to 1,850 in 2016, state officials said.
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Sep 7, 2017 | Southern Maryland News Net
Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh, along with other county officials, announced today the County has hired the law firm Motley Rice to pursue legal action against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and local “pill mill” doctors.
Anne Arundel County is the first jurisdiction in Maryland to file such action.
“We need to send a message in one strong, united voice that misleading and deceptive marketing practices and unethical prescribing practices are unacceptable in this County and this Country,” said Schuh. “Those who have had a hand in this epidemic must be held accountable.”
The Motley Rice law firm and its 90 attorneys have led and secured landmark outcomes and monumental settlements in some of the most significant health, environmental and consumer fraud litigation in state and federal courts throughout the last 30 years. The firm is working on a contingency fee basis and there are no immediate costs to tax payers. Motley Rice will only get paid if the suit recovers funds.
Over the coming months, the firm will gather data to help identify possible plaintiffs in the pharmaceutical and medical fields. Possible legal claims against the parties include:
False Claims Act claims
Maryland Consumer Protection Act claims
Nuisance law claims
Other claims such as unjust enrichment, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation, and breach of warranty
Despite record investments in education, prevention, and public safety, the opioid crisis in Anne Arundel has steadily gotten worse in recent years. Within the first quarter of 2016, drug and alcohol overdose deaths increased more in the county than any other Maryland jurisdiction. The County’s opioid prescription rate remains above the national average and nearly three times higher than in 1999. There were as many opioid-related overdose deaths suffered in the county within the first three months of 2017 as the entire year of 2016.
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Anne Arundel County filing lawsuit to fight opioid epidemic
Sep 6, 2017 | WBAL TV 11
By Kate Amara
Anne Arundel County is filing a civil lawsuit as part of a major new strategy in its fight against the growing opioid epidemic.
The lawsuit is a first for Maryland and is one of about 40 nationwide.
The numbers in Anne Arundel County are staggering. As of Tuesday, the Health Department said that so far this year, there have been 740 overdoses, 96 of which were fatal.
Two mothers in Annapolis on Wednesday are determined to put a face on the numbers. Denise Williams talked about her son, Ryan, a twin.
"I've lost one son, and I live in fear I'm going to lose the second one because he can't live with what happened to his brother and the damage that these opiates have done to him," Williams said.
Ginger Rosela remembered her son, Jacob.
"My son was using heroin for about a month and a half. I got a call one morning that his father and younger brother ... had found him dead in the bathroom," Rosela said.
Both mothers said a legal prescription for opioid painkillers was the starting point. County leaders called exposure to prescription opioids a deadly gateway that they plan to close down by going to court.
"Anne Arundel County intends to file a civil action against opioid manufacturers, distributors and our county's pill mill doctors who have helped ignite and amplify this crisis in Maryland and here in Anne Arundel County," Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh said.
The county has tapped law firm Motley Rice for the job.
"Nothing is off the table, at this point, in terms of the causes of action we could pursue or defendants we could include in the case," said Elizabeth Smith, with Motley Rice.
It's legal action that got the seal of approval from the two mothers.
"Thank you, Anne Arundel County, for standing up and saying, 'Enough is enough. We're done, and we're going to win this fight,'" Rosela said.
County officials and attorneys said the lawsuit will be filed as soon as possible.
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Md. County Sues Drug Companies, Doctors For Over-Prescribing Potent Pills
Sep 6, 2017 | CBS Baltimore
By Jonathan McCall
Anne Arundel County leaders are taking aim at drug companies and so called “Pill Mill doctors” through a first of it’s kind lawsuit in Maryland that holds them accountable for the state’s growing opioid epidemic.
As cities and counties across Maryland continue to struggle to keep up with the state’s opioid epidemic, Anne Arundel County has a new strategy to battle the growing health crisis.
County leaders say they hope to get back some of the millions they’re spending to deal with the problem. They’ve identified doctors and companies who they say are responsible.
“Maryland is one of hardest hit states in the country, and within Maryland, Anne Arundel County is among one of the hardest hit counties,” said Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh.
The County plans to file a lawsuit against the drug companies, distributors and so call “Pill Mill doctors” over-prescribing the potent pills.
“Anne Arundel County is among the first jurisdictions in the country to file this kind of lawsuit,” Schuh said.
Schuh says the companies underplayed the danger of prescription opioids and says several local doctors are now on their radar.
“We know exactly who they are. We know who they are from their prescribing habits, and we’re coming after them,” he said.
In the first three months of 2017, Maryland saw 550 overdose deaths. Anne Arundel County says they’re on pace for 150 overdose deaths this year alone.
County officials say it’s costing them millions in taxpayer dollars to fight this battle. They’re hoping with the lawsuit, they’ll be able to get some of the money so they can continue fighting the war.
“It’s draining us everyday. Everyday, job one for us is to fight the heroin and opioid crisis,” said chief Tim Altomare of the Anne Arundel County police.
Officers on the front lines say they’re dealing more calls for robberies, thefts and other crimes stemming from prescription drugs.
“Today’s criminal, today’s bad guy is very likely suffering from an addiction problem,” Altomare said.
County officials say they have been in talks with Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh to possibly include more counties on the lawsuit.
The firm taking on the case is doing so for free, and is currently litigating other opioid addiction cases in other parts of the country.
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Anne Arundel County plans to sue big pharma and pill mill doctors for the opioid epidemic
Sep 6, 2017 | WMAR 2 Baltimore
By Catherine Hawley
It's a problem that's out of control. In 2015, there were enough doses of opioids prescribed in Anne Arundel County to give every resident a two-week supply of pills.
"He was on Percocet, OxyContin, Vicodin, he was prescribed all these at the same time," said Ginger Rosella.
For her son Jacob Paddy, the medicine cabinet was his first drug dealer.
After two years of being sober all it took was another pain pill prescription for the Pasadena man to relapse.
"You know, the pills ran out, heroin's cheap, a month-and-a-half later my son's dead," Rosella said.
Officials say the drug habit for nearly 80 percent of the county's heroin addicts started from a prescription written by a doctor.
"I've lost one son, and I live in fear I’m going to lose the second one because he can't live with what happened to his brother and the damage these opiates have done to him," said Denise Williams.
The county now plans to sue big pharma for the opioid epidemic. Leaders have hired a law firm, and want the court to decide if pharmaceutical companies can be held legally responsible, and be forced to pay for the consequences of the crisis.
"We have come to the sad and undeniable conclusion that major pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors are complicit, utilizing practices like bogus research that played down the addictive qualities of these opiates,” County Executive Steve Shuh said.
He says these companies also used misleading, deceptive and dangerous marketing practices to promote over-prescribing, and that helped ignite and amplify the opioid epidemic.
The lawsuit will also target local physicians.“Bottom feeder doctors who make their living prescribing vast amounts of these drugs to people who are suffering from this disease," said Shuh.
Similar litigation has been filed across the country, but this is a first for Maryland. The investigation has started, but right now there's no timeline for when any local of federal lawsuits will be filed.
"Nothing is off the table at this point in terms of the causes of action we could pursue, or defendants we could include in the case," said Elizabeth Smith, Attorney with Motely Rice Law Firm.
Any money the county wins will go right back into the opioid battle and helping people regain control of their lives.
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Bernalillo County to sue drug companies over opioid addiction
Sep 6, 2017 | KOB 4
By JR Oppenheim
In the battle against opioid addiction, the Bernalillo County Commission says it will take pharmaceutical companies to court.
Commissioners voted to pursue a lawsuit against those companies who make prescription opioids. The lawsuit has not yet been filed, but the commissioners in a closed meeting last week decided to advance a request for proposal in finding a law firm.
Commissioners voted unanimously to move forward with the suit.
"Bernalillo County is heavily impacted by the opioid crisis, and it’s devastating our community," Commission Chair Debbie O’Malley said. "We’ve seen an increase in opioid-related crime, which in turn drives up the cost of public safety. It’s time to hold the drug companies accountable."
The commissioners claim drug companies use "misleading marketing practices" regarding pain medications and don't fully address their addictive nature. The county will seek changes to those practices and compensation for costs in dealing with opioids.
County figures state 374 people in Bernalillo County died as a result of opioid overdoses from 2013 to 2015, including 185 from pain pills. Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins called it a public health crisis and blames prescription opioids for Bernalillo County having "one of the highest overdose rates in the United States."
"I hope this lawsuit will drive change in the prescribing and marketing practices that have harmed so many families in our community and driven up law enforcement and healthcare costs across New Mexico,” she said.
Mora County has also filed a lawsuit against drug companies about opioids.
On Thursday, Attorney General Hector Balderas will announce the state will pursue a lawsuit against drug manufacturers and distributors regarding opioids. That press conference is slated for noon.
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Bernalillo County latest to sue opioid makers over marketing
Sep 6, 2017 | Associated Press
New Mexico’s most populous county is taking the lead of one of its smallest in planning to sue opioid manufacturers over marketing practices officials say have led to soaring numbers of overdoses.
Bernalillo County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to sue the drugmakers. The move comes just days after Mora County became the state’s first local government to sue in hopes of collecting cash from pharmaceutical companies.
Bernalillo Commission Chair Debbie O’Malley says in a statement that her county has been heavily impacted by the opioid crisis, with increasing crime related to opioid addiction and related policing costs. The county will seek changes in marketing and prescribing practices as well as cash to help cover its higher costs.
Mora County sued 20 of the largest drugmakers last week on similar grounds.
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Bernalillo County to join in swell of lawsuits against opioid makers
Sep 6, 2017 | Albuquerque Journal
By Maggie Shepard
Bernalillo County has now joined the growing list of local governments suing opioid pharmaceutical manufacturing companies and distributors.
Mora County filed suit late last month, and Bernalillo County announced Wednesday afternoon that commissioners voted to sue over what Commission Chairwoman Debbie O’Malley said was an “opioid crisis … devastating our community.”
Commissioners voted 4-0 in a closed meeting, with Commissioner Lonnie Talbert absent, Wednesday to seek a law firm to move forward with suit, which has not yet been filed.
“There is a big movement. This has been something that has been in the works for a long time … nationwide. Given the particular situation in Bernalillo, we’re a county that has been really impacted by this more so than other counties,” O’Malley said.
As of July, the Washington Post counted at least 25 states, cities and counties with lawsuits filed against manufacturers, distributors and large drugstore chains in connection with opioids.
That number has climbed, with counties across the national filing suit nearly weekly.
Bernalillo County hasn’t filed its suit, but the Wednesday meeting, which included commissioners and county attorney and manager, paves the way to it.
O’Malley said there was much discussion about the purpose and likelihood of success of such a suit.
“They [attorneys] kind of equated it to being like Tobacco litigation that occurred,” she said. “But this is something that is going to take a while.”
The vote authorized the county to contract with a law firm that would represent the county in a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opioids and distributors of the highly-addictive drugs.
“The lawsuit will seek changes in marketing and prescription practices as well as compensation for increased costs to Bernalillo County taxpayers. Commissioners have expressed concern that drug companies have engaged in misleading marketing practices that overstate the effectiveness of opioid-based pain medications and understate how easy it is to get hooked on pain pills,” commissioners said in a news release Wednesday afternoon.
No taxpayer money would be paid upfront for the suit, O’Malley said. Instead, attorney compensation would come from a settlement, were there to be one.
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Senator Reveals First Findings in Opioids Inquiry
Sep 6, 2017 | US News
By Katelyn Newman
Insys Therapeutics systemically manipulated authorization for its fentanyl drug Subsys without proper compliance measures to keep it in check, according to Missouri's senior Democratic senator's recently released report.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., released on Wednesday a report on the initial findings of her investigation into whether pharmaceutical manufacturers played a part in the overutilization and overprescription of prescription opioids nationwide that have contributed to America's opioid epidemic.
"There is extensive evidence that Insys aggressively pressured its employees and the entire medical system to increase the use of a fentanyl product during a national epidemic that was taking the lives of tens of thousands of Americans a year in order to make more money – it's hard to imagine anything more despicable," McCaskill said. "Their attempts to manipulate the prescription approval process for this drug appear to have been systemic, and anyone responsible for this manipulation deserves to be prosecuted."
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Subsys for pain management of cancer pain that persists despite attempted treatment with other opioid medications. Yet, an internal document obtained by McCaskill's investigative team revealed that Insys' representatives manipulated the authorization of the treatment for pain management of non-cancer conditions such as back pain, fibromyalgia and migraines.
The report also includes excerpts from an audio tape in which a sales representative from the company misrepresents information in order to receive authorization for the drug.
The amount of opioids prescribed per person in 2015 was three times higher than in 1999, and more than 15,000 people died from overdoses involving prescription opioids in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
McCaskill, the senior Democrat on the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, began her investigation into opioid manufacturers in March 2017 by initially sending letters to manufacturers Purdue, Johnson & Johnson, Insys, Mylan and Depomed. She expanded her investigation in July 2017 to include four more manufacturers – Mallinckrodt, Endo, Teva and Allergan – as well as three distributors – McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, and Cardinal Health, Inc.
91 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose, whether through use of prescription pills or heroin, according to the CDC. And more than 64,000 people lost their lives to drug overdoses in 2016, surpassing 2015's highest record, according to the CDC's provisional numbers of overdose deaths.
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Sep 6, 2017 | Business Insider
By Linette Lopez
Senator Claire McCaskill's office on Wednesday released audio that explains how many in America fell victim to the opioid crisis.
It's a phone call between an employee from Insys, the Arizona-based maker of Subsys, and a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM). The PBMs is supposed to ensure that everyone who gets Subsys has cancer — that's the pain the drug is supposed to treat.
But the patient in question, Sarah Fuller, didn't have cancer. The Insys employee just did whatever they could to make it sound like she did. It was a success. Fuller did get the Subsys prescription, and eventually died of a Subsys overdose on March 25, 2016.
The audio accompanies a report from McCaskill's office on Insys' marketing and business practices. What McCaskill found was a systematic plot to give as many patients as possible cancer (on paper) so that doctors would prescribe the drug.
PBMs use something called prior authorization to ensure that only patients who need certain drugs get them. To override a prior authorization you need special permission from your doctor.
So Insys employees just pretended to be calling "with" a doctor's office. Words are very important here. Insys patients didn't necessarily have to say a patient had breakthrough cancer pain, they just had to agree a lot and say the patient had breakthrough pain.
That's what happened when Insys called Envision Pharmaceutical Services, a PBM, to get through the prior authorization for Sarah Fuller. You can listen to the call here.
From the report [emphasis ours]:
As the conversation with the Envision clinical department representative proceeds, the Insys employee correctly notes that Subsys is “intended for the management of breakthrough cancer pain,” but then states only that Dr. Matalon is treating Ms. Fuller for “breakthrough pain.”
When questioned as to whether Ms. Fuller does, in fact, suffer from breakthrough cancer pain, the Insys employee avoids responding directly and instead explains “there’s no code for breakthrough cancer pain.”
She then states again that the Subsys prescription is “for breakthrough pain, yeah,” and the Envision representative discontinues this line of questioning. Toward the end of the call, the Insys employee states that Ms. Fuller is anticipated to remain on Subsys indefinitely.
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Fuller was ultimately admitted into a local hospital with “hypersedation with hypoxia secondary to narcotics and sedatives.” Her doctor was told not to give her any more Subsys, but that was ignored. In fact, Fuller was also prescribed Percocet, OxyContin, and Alprazolam, over the next five months.
Since a number of its executives, including a former CEO, were arrested last December, Insys has become the poster child for everything wrong with the opioid epidemic. Former employees and medical practitioners have testified in a Massachusetts court and pled guilty to helping the company with this scam, and the state of Arizona just opened an investigation into the company's marketing practices. We reached out to Insys for comment and we'll update this post if we hear back.
Insys isn't the only company being investigated. On top of Insys, the Attorney General of Missouri, Josh Hawley, is also looking at the business practices of Mallinckrodt, an OxyContin maker, as well as Teva, Allergan, Depomed Inc, Pfizer and Mylan (the maker of EpiPen). In June he sued Purdue Pharma Inc., Endo International Plc and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. for misrepresenting the dangers of opioid use.
The takeaway from all of this is simple. The opioid crisis didn't start with "bad hombres" coming in from Mexico. It started in board rooms across corporate America. Until people understand that, they won't understand how to stop it.
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There's only one deadly conspiracy Americans really need to think about (OPINION)
Sep 7, 2017 | Business Insider
By Linette Lopez
America in 2017 is a volley of ridiculous conspiracies. I'd list them, but I get angry just thinking about them.
I get angrier still thinking about the conspiracy going on right under everyone's noses — one that is never framed as such. We talk about it, but never the right way. The opioid crisis didn't fall out of the sky. It was the outcome of a concerted effort by some drug companies to get as many people buying opioids as possible — even people who didn't need them.
But to hear President Trump or Attorney General Jeff Sessions talk about what happened is to think the opioid epidemic started when a bunch of pills were smuggled here in an underground tunnel from Mexico or something. It didn't. It started in American boardrooms. It started with American business people.
That became all too clear on Wednesday when Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) released a report about Arizona-based drugmaker Insys. Insys makes a powerful opioid called Subsys, which contains fentanyl.
McCaskill's report included a bunch of internal documents from the company detailing how it worked to get over barriers caller prior authorizations. Subsys is only meant for cancer pain. If you want to get it for anything else you have to get permission from your doctor (prior authorization).
Insys had an entire department within in the company for doing this. There, employees would call pharmacy benefit managers (the gatekeepers to the prior authorizations) and pretend they were with a doctors office to get them to lift the barrier and give Subsys to a patient who didn't have cancer.
It's horrifying.
And, based on the way state and federal investigators are moving, Insys was likely not the only company engaging in this kind of activity. Investigators from Arizona to Massachusetts to Missouri are looking into how opioid makers marketed the drugs to doctors and patients — they're looking into how this was a top-down disaster.Some people in Washington get this, some don't. In an interview with Stat News back in March, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D) answered questions that made it seem like he doesn't get it, which is disappointing considering that his state is one of the hardest hit by the crisis.
Manchin offered nothing but pithy solutions and ideological dog whistles to the White House. He talked about educating people about the dangers of the drug, decried marijuana as a gateway drug, and called for a "one-penny fee on every milligram of opiates that are produced and sold in America" to be collected for treatment.
This is where I should note that Manchin's daughter, Heather Bresch is the CEO of Mylan. Mylan is widely known for being the company that jacked up the price of EpiPen anti-allergy medication, but among people watching this stuff also know it as a company whose opioid sales practices are under scrutiny.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is investigating the company. He's also investigating Teva, Allergan, Depomed Inc, Pfizer, and Mallinckrodt. In June he sued Purdue Pharma Inc., Endo International Plc and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. for misrepresenting the dangers of opioid use.
Even people who get this stuff right — people who advocate for spending money on treatment and counseling for opioid addicts instead of ripping money from government programs — often miss the boat when it comes to how deep this C-suite conspiracy ran and who be should be paying for it.
Yesterday, in his opening remarks, the new US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams stood next to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and stressed the role of "law and order" in combating opioids. At no point when Sessions has put those three words together has he meant the white collar executives and millionaires sitting in offices dreaming up ways to lie about cancer diagnoses so they can sell more dangerous drugs.
But that's what he should mean because that's what they did.
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Sep 7, 2017 | Becker's Hospital Review
By Brian Zimmerman
The first report produced by the opioid investigation spearheaded by Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., highlights the lengths Chandler, Ariz.-based Insys Therapeutics went to garner approval for its fentanyl-based painkiller Subsys.
Here are five things to know.
1. Subsys is intended to treat breakthrough pain in cancer patients. However, the report details an audio recording of a 2015 phone call in which an Insys employee misled a pharmacy benefit manager when attempting to obtain prior authorization for a Subsys prescription for a patient named Sarah Fuller, who was being treated for neck and back pain. In March 2016, Ms. Fuller died of a Subsys overdose.
2. In the beginning of the call, the Insys employee tells the PBM representative she's with the "doctor's office" and never clarifies she's working for Insys.
"When questioned as to whether Ms. Fuller does, in fact, suffer from breakthrough cancer pain, the Insys employee avoids responding directly and instead explains 'there's no code for breakthrough cancer pain,'" wrote the report's authors. "She then states again that the Subsys prescription is 'for breakthrough pain, yeah,' and the [PBM] representative discontinues this line of questioning. Toward the end of the call, the Insys employee states that Ms. Fuller is anticipated to remain on Subsys indefinitely."
To download the audio recording of the call, click here.
3. The 2015 call took place during a period when Insys executives were allegedly pressuring employees to increase their approval ratios for Subsys, according to the report.
"There is extensive evidence that Insys aggressively pressured its employees and the entire medical system to increase the use of a fentanyl product during a national epidemic that was taking the lives of tens of thousands of Americans a year in order to make more money — it's hard to imagine anything more despicable," said Ms. McCaskill in an emailed release. "Their attempts to manipulate the prescription approval process for this drug appear to have been systemic, and anyone responsible for this manipulation deserves to be prosecuted."
4. Last month, Insys agreed to pay $4.45 million to resolve a 2016 lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, alleging the company deceptively marketed its fentanyl-based painkiller Subsys, according to an Aug. 18 announcement.
5. In July, Ms. McCaskill expanded her investigation into the causes of the nation's ongoing opioid epidemic. Thus far, she has requested internal documents from McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health, Mallinckrodt, Endo, Teva, Purdue Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Insys, Depomed and Mylan.
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Sep 6, 2017 | Branford Eagle
By Sally E. Bahner
“Fed Up” with the epidemic of opioid use in town and in the state a small group of concerned citizens gathered on the green last week for the first annual International Overdose Awareness Day.
The rally coincided with legislation signed on Thursday by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy designed to strengthen the state’s efforts in combating the opioid crisis.
Branford’s legislators, State Reps. Sean Scanlon (D-Guilford, Branford) and Lonnie Reed (D-Branford) and State Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-12th District) have been instrumental in providing legislation to control prescription opioids, make anti-overdose drugs like Narcan more accessible, and bring attention to the problems locally.
Reed recently proposed a new program at BHcare customized to meet the specific needs of teens and adolescents struggling with substance abuse, obtaining a $10,000 grant from AT&T. “I’m grateful to the company for stepping up to help fund such an urgently needed resource to reach and rescue our children,” she said.Local Legislative Actions
In 2015, Scanlon co-sponsored Public Act 15-198, a landmark law that required education for doctors and other prescribers on prescription drug abuse, cracked down on “doctor shopping” for prescription drugs, and allowed pharmacists to prescribe life-saving anti-overdose drugs like Narcan over the counter.In 2016, Scanlon wrote and sponsored legislation making Connecticut the second state in the nation to limit first-time opioid prescriptions to a seven-day supply with exemptions for chronic pain as a way of reducing the number of unused and expired drugs in our communities. That seven-day limit is now reduced to five days and is now extended to minors in a bipartisan move led by Kennedy.
Narcan is now carried and used by paramedics when required.
Kennedy (pictured) led a unanimous bi-partisan state senate to adopt a series of major policy changes in how the state fights the ongoing opioid crisis. Kennedy, a health care attorney, said the bill would establish a “standing order” model, which will make it easier for friends and family members of opioid addicts to obtain Narcan, the life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication. It also required doctors to reduce the maximum opioid prescription for minors from seven days to five unless the doctor can document the need for an extended prescription. That bill is now law.
Scanlon, who was at Thursday’s rally, said there have been seven overdose deaths in Guilford since 2013. Six people died from overdose deaths in Branford in 2016. He said his family has also been affected.
According to the Hartford Courant, 1,078 overdose deaths are expected within the state this year, with 539 in the first six months.
WNPR announced this week that Waterbury intends file a lawsuit accusing multiple pharmaceutical companies of causing opioid addiction and overdoses. The city is seeking monetary damages based on the firms’ deceptive marketing practices. Among the companies is Purdue Pharma of Stamford, which makes Oxycontin; the suit also names Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Johnson & Johnson, and Endo Health Solutions. Thirty other municipalities including Bristol, Bridgeport, New Milford, Naugatuck, Oxford, Wolcott, and Roxbury are considering joining the suit.
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Darien eyes joining class action drug suit
Sep 6, 2017 | Darien News Online (CT)
By Roby Ryser and Justin Papp
Town leaders remain undecided as to whether they will join a lawsuit aimed at makers of pain killers “aggressively and misleadingly marketed” said to have contributed to the opioid epidemic.
“I would like to know how our residents feel about the possibility of joining this suit,” First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said the day after an Aug. 31 meeting between town officials throughout the state and the lawyers bringing forth the litigation. The meeting was held in Waterbury where the class action suit got its start.
According to Stevenson, the claim — being carried out by Drubner, Hartley & Hellman, LLC and Simmons, Hanly, Conroy LLC — is being crafted after a 2016 suit already pending in Suffolk County, N.Y.
“The hopeful outcome of the suit is not only a financial settlement to help reimburse municipalities for the extraordinary costs incurred fighting the opioid addiction epidemic,” Stevenson explained, “but also to have the defendants accountable to help with opioid education, treatment programs, prescriber education and any other outcomes the municipalities collectively deem necessary and appropriate.”
Connecticut saw 917 overdose deaths in 2016, and more than 1,000 are anticipated in 2017. According to Darien Director of Health David Knauf, the state medical examiner reported two overdose deaths in Darien in 2016.
Stevenson said she needed more time to consider the suit and planned to present the details to the Board of Selectmen at its Sept. 11 meeting.
New Milford, Bridgeport, Oxford, Bristol, Naugatuck, Wolcott and Rockbury have verbally committed to join Waterbury’s lawsuit against Stamford-based Purdue Pharma and other drug makers over the opioid overdose crisis. As many as 20 other cities and towns — including Danbury and Ridgefield - are considering taking similar action.
“Waterbury is the first Connecticut city to join the growing list of municipalities around the country that have concluded that the defendant drug companies must be held responsible for their conspiratory and fraudulent actions and the injuries and costs that have resulted from the opioid epidemic,” said Paul Hanly, a lead attorney who filed the lawsuit. “The defendants have manufactured, promoted and marketed opioids by omitting critical information that has long been known about the drugs’ addictive qualities and other risks associated with their prolonged use.”
Leaders from two dozen cities and towns assembled in Waterbury on Thursday in a show of solidarity. The leaders said drug companies should be held responsible for a crisis that is expected to result in 1,000 overdose deaths in Connecticut this year.
“Communities throughout Connecticut have been suffering the devastating effects of this opioid epidemic for years and we in Waterbury believe it is time to take a stand,” Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary said in a prepared statement. “The effects stretch throughout the state and have destroyed families, flooded emergency rooms and overwhelmed emergency services. We are pleased that so many of the leaders of our neighboring cities and towns came today to hear about our course of action and we expect many will be joining us in this litigation.”
A spokesman for Purdue, which manufactures the popular opioid painkiller OxyContin, said the company has been working to minimize the drug’s addictive effects.
“While we vigorously deny the allegations, we share local officials’ concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions,” said spokesman Robert Josephson on Aug. 31.
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WMAR News Good Morning Maryland at 5:30am
Sep 7, 2017 | WMAR (ABC)
By Baltimore, MD
Rough Transcript: in anne arundel county, three- people overdose on drugs every single day and the opioid cris continues to get worse. officials say the drug habit for nearly 80-percent of the county's heroin addicts started from a prescription written by a doctor.now, the county plans to sue big pharma for the opioidepidemic. county leaders have hired a lawfirm and want the court to decide if pharmaceutical companies can be held legally responsible, and be forced to pay for the consequences of the cris."i've lost one son, and i live in fear i'm going to lose the second one because he can't live with what happened to his brother and the damage these opiates have done to him."any money the county wins will go back into the opioid battle.
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WBAL 11 News at 5pm, 6pm, 11pm, 4am, 5am
Sep 7, 2017 | WBAL (NBC)
By Baltimore, MD
Rough Transcript: anne arundel county is taking manufacturers and distributors and doctors to court. attorneys have not given a time line for filing the lawsuit but say it is coming. tuesday health department said there were 740 overdoses this year and 96 with deaths. they claim many started with opioid prescriptions to treat pain. millennials prefer life style khraeufrpbgs over opioiopioids. one in five regret using addictive painkillers but young adults are more likely to take them without a prescription and less likely to dispose leftover pills safely.
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WJZ Eyewitness News at 5pm and 6pm
Sep 7, 2017 | WJZ (CBS)
By Baltimore, MD
Rough Transcript: president dec the opioid epidemi 6:36 PMemergency last month. officials are hoping with this lawsuit, they will be able to recoop the they have been spending to fight this battle. already they have identified the companies as well as several doctors they say are responsible. as cities and counties across maryland will struggle to keep up with the state's opioid epidemic. >> maryland is among the hardest hit states in the country. within maryland, anne arundel county is one of the hardest hit counties. >> anne arundel has a strategy. >> anne arundel is among the first jurisdictions in the countrto file this kind of lawsuit. >> reporter: the to file a lawsuit against distributers and so-called pill mill doctors over prescribing the potent pills. executives say the company underplayed the dangers of prescription opioids, saying several local doctors are now on their radar. >> we know exactly who they are. we know who they are from their prescribing habits. we are coming after them. >> reporter: in the firsthree months of 2017, maryland saw 550 overdose deaths. anne arundel pace to see 15 this year alone. anne arundel county officials say it is costing them millions in taxpayer dollars to fight this battle. they're hoping with this lawsuit they'll be able to get some of that money back so they can continue fight thing -- fighting the war. the epidemic of the county. >> it is draing us every day. every day job one for us is to fight the heroin. >> reporter: including officers on the front lines who say they are dealing with more calls for robberie cr at the root, prescription drugs. >> today's bad guy is very likely suffering from an >> reporter: county leaders they have reached out to maryland's a brian frost to see if more counties could be added to that lawsuit. in baltimore jonathan mccall wjz eyewitness news. >> interestinglyhe firm taking on the firm is doing so for free. the firm is currently litigating other opioid addiction cases in other parts of the country.
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KOAT Action 7 News More in the Morning 10pm, 7:30am, 8am,
Sep 7, 2017 | KOAT (ABC)
By Albuquerque, NM
Rough Transcript: happening today, our state attorney general will sue drug manufacturers and distributors. hector balderas says the groups are responsible for flooding new mexico with opioids that often lead to overdoses. he also plans to talk about a statewide opioid investigation. we'll be there when balderas announces his lawsuit, and bring you the details tonight on action 7 news. this comes as bernalillo county is planning to see opioidmanufacturers over marketing practices. officials say those practices have led to soaring numbers of overdoses. bernalillo county commissioners approved the lawsuit yesterday. it comes just days after mora county made a similar move. officials there sued 20 drug makers. commissioners say the county has been heavily impacted by the opioid crisis.
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KOB Eyewitness News Today at 1pm and 7:30am
Sep 6, 2017 | KOB (NBC)
By Albuquerque, NM
Rough Transcript: new mexico's opioid cris is causing the state's attorney general to declare a state of emergency. today he's announcing a lawsuit against the biggest drug manufacturers and distributors. the suit will claim the companies are responsible for fueling our state's opioid problem. hector balras will provide more detls today - we'll have more at noon. bernalillo county plans to go after pharmaceutical companies in court as well, for the same reason. nearly 400 people died from opioid overdose there between 20-13 and 20-15. the impending lawsuit aims at changing the way opioi are marketed and prescribed. bernalillo county is following what mora county did about a week ago.
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Sep 7, 2017 | WLBT (NBC)
By Jackson, MS
Rough Transcript: a missisippi attorney is taking-on a massive opponent. he is leading an effort to sue major pharmaceutical companies, claiming they misled the public about opioid pain kilers -- leading to an epidemic of addiction, overdose, and death. and before you write him of as an idealistic david trying to slay goliath, you should know he's done this before. as wilson stribling explains in this "3 on your sid investigates" report, he' someone you probably remember. reporter: it was 20 years ago this sumer that mississippi attorney general mike more stood before reporters in washington to announce a milestone settlement. mike moore in 1997: "what we think is -- we know, w believe -- is the most historic public-health achievement in history." 11:18 PMreporter: he and other atorneys-general had sued the big tobacco companies -- claiming they marketed and sold what they knew was an addictive and deadly product -- resulting in crushing healthcare costs to treat those afected. the companies agred to pay the states more than 200-bilion dollars. misisipi's share was about four- billion, to be used to help get people of cigaretes and stop others from picking up the habit. the deal made mike moore a celebrity -- but after he decided not to run for re- election in 2003, he largely disappeared from public view, though he's been quietly working on other big projects from his law office in flowood. that's where 3 on your side learned about his latest opponent -- one he says is killing 50,0 americans every year. mike moore: there's literally 140 people every day in america dying of opioid overdosing. now think about that. if we had airplanes flying over the country and every 11:19 PMday one crashed, 140, next day 140, next day 140 -- we would shut the airways down and find out what was causing that. reporter: so what he is doing is encouraging states and other public entities to sue the makers of opioid drugs, claiming -- among other things -- they pushed doctors to over-prescribe the powerful pills meant for treatment of severe pain. mike more: it's not for somebody who has dental surgery or somebody who has shoulder surgery. shoulder surgery, sure, it hurts for a few days. i had it twice on this shoulder right here. but you don't give a 30-day supply and then give them another 30-day suply, and then another 30-day supply, and then create an addict who has to go out and try to get another prescription, or if they can't get another prescription, they go out on the street. reporter: moore says some doctors, pharmacies, and even the fda bear some responsibility - but it's the manufacturers who were pushing their product so aggressively, and that's why they should be the 11:20 PMones who cough up the billions of dollars that he says could save people's lives. mike moore: you need about $75 bilion to provide treatment, prevention and education programs, and do al the things in the middle with the criminal justice system, the regulations, and changing the way the companies and the doctors and others do business -- to solve this problem. so if we're going to do something about it, let's get to it. reporter: missisippi's current atorney general, jim hood, filed the first lawsuit against the drugmakers, back in 2015. since then, more and his team have convinced half a dozen more to file - and he expects that many more by this fal. mike more: what i realy want is i really want the companies -- not only the drug companies but the distributors, some of the drug store chains and others who are partly responsible - i want them to sit down at a table tomorrow with the public-health comunity, with the atorneys general, and sit down and come up with a compromise to try to resolve this tomorrow. whether a lawyer ever makes a penny or not, frankly, i don't care. i really, sincerely don't. reporter: runing on his tobaco record, he's getting more states' attention. he says if this efort succeds, it would be the third-largest case in american history, behind tobacco and the bp oil-spill settlement, which he negotiated. mike moore: my proudest moment in life is to know that thousands, hundreds of thousands, of people -- probably milions of people -- won't die from lung cancer or heart disease because of the tobacco effort that missisippi led. what i'd like to do also now is to say that missisippi led another case where we kep 50,000 people a year from dying from opioid overdose. if we do that, it's a pretty proud moment. forget the money. wilson stribling, 3 on your side investigates. mike moore says his "bigges disappointment in life" is what happened to all that tobaco money he won for misissipi. hear his comments about that and his thoughts on the next governor's race on our website, msnewsnow-dot- com. next at ten. ....misisipians who have been battling a firery disaster out west are back home tonight.
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