Preview Newsletter
Opioid Litigation Media Report (9/12/17)
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Drug companies want to dismiss Ohio's lawsuit over opioid epidemic
Sep 12, 2017 | Cleveland.com
By Sabrina Eaton
Companies that make prescription opioids want a Ross County Common Pleas judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine that charged them with stoking Ohio's opioid epidemic by fraudulently marketing their products. -
Purdue Pharma seeks dismissal of Ohio lawsuit
Sep 12, 2017 | SCNI
By Paul Schott
Purdue Pharma and several other drug makers sued earlier this year by the state of Ohio for alleged fraudulent marketing of their opioids asked a court last Friday to throw out the complaint because they said the lawsuit does not show they contributed to the state’s opioid crisis and that its demands conflict with federal law. -
Pharmaceutical Company Respond to Ohio's Opioid Crisis Lawsuit
Sep 12, 2017 | Cleveland Scene
By Eric Sandy
Multiple lawsuits against major pharmaceutical companies have originated in Ohio this year, as the overdose death tolls climbs once again to record-shattering numbers. Attorney General Mike DeWine filed one of those civil complaints in May, alleging that the likes of Janssen Pharmaceutical, Allergan, Purdue Pharma, Endo and Cephalon played an active role in flooding the market with prescription painkillers, which led explicitly to addiction for untold numbers of Ohioans. -
Drug companies push back in court against DeWine opioid lawsuit
Sep 12, 2017 | The Columbus Dispatch
By Alan Johnson
The five drug companies Attorney General Mike DeWine sued for allegedly getting Ohioans hooked on narcotic painkillers want a judge to dismiss the case while a federal agency looks into the subject of addiction. -
Purdue Pharma seeks dismissal of Ohio opioid-abuse lawsuit
Sep 11, 2017 | Westfair Online
By Kevin Zimmerman
Stamford-based Purdue Pharma has filed a motion to throw out the state of Ohio’s lawsuit against it, at nearly the same time that New Mexico joined a growing list of plaintiffs suing it and other opioid manufacturers over their marketing practices. -
Opioid maker cites FDA decisions in defense against Ohio lawsuit
Sep 11, 2017 | Washington Examiner
By Robert King
Major opioid maker Purdue Pharma is arguing that an Ohio lawsuit should be thrown out because the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of its popular painkiller. -
AG Files Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers And Distributors For Fueling Epidemic Crippling New Mexico
Sep 12, 2017 | Los Alamos Daily Post
By Carol A. Clark
Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that he has brought a lawsuit on behalf of the State of New Mexico against the country’s largest manufacturers and wholesale distributors of opioids, a crucial first step toward holding these companies responsible for flooding New Mexico’s communities with prescription opioids and fueling the opioid epidemic by putting profits over people. -
Opioid Makers Challenge Suit
Sep 12, 2017 | The Wall Street Journal
By Jeanne Whalen and Sara Randazzo
A group of opioid painkiller makers has asked an Ohio court to dismiss the state's case alleging the companies misrepresented the addiction risks of their drugs, arguing the lawsuit is "fatally defective." -
Drugmakers Slam Ohio AG's Suit Over Opioid Crisis
Sep 12, 2017 | Law360
By Rachel Graf
Purdue Pharma, Allergan, Endo, Johnson & Johnson unit Janssen and Teva unit Cephalon urged an Ohio state court Friday to dismiss the state attorney general's allegations that the pharmaceutical companies contributed to the opioid epidemic by downplaying their treatments' risks. -
Princeton City Council votes to sue drug companies over opioid epidemic
Sep 12, 2017 | Bluefield Daily Telegraph (WV)
By Greg Jordan
After hearing a Charleston attorney’s presentation, the Princeton City Council voted Monday to pursue legal action against pharmaceutical companies over the area’s opioid drug epidemic. -
New Mexico Attorney General sues pharmaceutical companies amidst opioid crisis
Sep 11, 2017 | KVIA
By Kate Bieri
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is suing pharmaceutical companies in the state in the midst of New Mexico's opioid crisis, his Deputy Attorney General announced Monday. -
Democrats to Trump: Where’s your opioids emergency declaration?
Sep 12, 2017 | Washington Times
By Tom Howell Jr.
Senate Democrats pressed President Trump Monday to explain why he hasn’t followed through on his intent to declare the opioids crisis a national emergency, saying it causes them to question his pledge to throw more resources at the problem. -
Huckabee Sanders Floats Garbage Excuses for Trump's Opioid Emergency Lie (OPINION)
Sep 11, 2017 | Independent Journal Review
By Gary Legum
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was very put out at Monday's press briefing because reporters kept asking her about Steve Bannon's combative lunacy of an interview on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night. Wasn't there any reporter there who wanted to ask her a question on some other topic that she could spin, deflect and obfuscate? -
Plans for drug abuse emergency join others in the slow lane
Sep 12, 2017 | Newsday
By Dan Janison
One month ago, President Donald Trump said he was about to brand widespread opioid abuse a national emergency. “It’s a serious problem the likes of which we’ve never had,” he said. -
State leaders waiting on Trump to declare opioid crisis a state of emergency
Sep 11, 2017 | WWLP (MA)
By Tashanea Whitlow
Massachusetts’ senators are among a group of ten who are calling on President Trump to fight the opioid epidemic. -
Brown to White House on Opioid declaration: Take immediate action
Sep 12, 2017 | Circleville Herald
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and nine of their colleagues Monday to call on President Donald Trump to take immediate action on the opioid crisis and answer specific questions about the President’s overdue promise to declare the epidemic a national emergency. Brown applauded the formation of the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis and several of its recommendations, which echoed his work to combat the opioid epidemic in the Senate. -
Senate Dems demand Trump take action on opioids
Sep 11, 2017 | The Hil
By Nathaniel Weixel
A group of Democratic senators is demanding President Trump take action to combat the opioid epidemic, nearly a month after the president declared it a national emergency. -
Bay State senators press Trump on opioids
Sep 12, 2017 | Lowell Sun
By Colin A. Young
Massachusetts' two U.S. senators were among 10 Senate Democrats who sent a letter to the White House on Monday questioning whether President Donald Trump truly wants to end the opioid crisis. -
US seeks a fix for its opioid addiction
Sep 12, 2017 | Financial Times
By David Crow
The bodies keep piling up at the coroner’s office in Dayton, Ohio. “Our cooler space is constantly maxed out,” says Kent Harshbarger, coroner for Montgomery County. “It’s directly linked to the opioid epidemic — there’s no doubt about it.” -
WTOL News 11 Daybreak at 6am
Sep 12, 2017 | WTOL (CBS)
By Toledo, OH
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29291641?token=81668baf-3f9a-4e95-9503-f806e5d91c79 -
WCPO Good Morning Tri-State at 6am
Sep 12, 2017 | WCPO (ABC)
By CIncinnati, OH
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29291662?token=81668baf-3f9a-4e95-9503-f806e5d91c79 -
KFOX News at 9pm and 11pm
Sep 12, 2017 | KFOX (Fox)
By El Paso, TX
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29291665?token=81668baf-3f9a-4e95-9503-f806e5d91c79 -
KVIA 7 News at 5pm
Sep 12, 2017 | KVIA (ABC)
By El Paso, TX
VIDEO LINK: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29291671?token=81668baf-3f9a-4e95-9503-f806e5d91c79
Traditional Media Coverage
Broadcast Media Coverage
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Drug companies want to dismiss Ohio's lawsuit over opioid epidemic
Sep 12, 2017 | Cleveland.com
By Sabrina Eaton
Companies that make prescription opioids want a Ross County Common Pleas judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine that charged them with stoking Ohio's opioid epidemic by fraudulently marketing their products.
Legal briefs filed by Purdue Pharma, which makes Oxycontin, says U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements for its products preempt Ohio law, and DeWine's lawsuit also failed to prove the company's actions caused the harm he cites.
"The State does not identify a single physician who prescribed one of Purdue's opioid medications to any patient when it was allegedly medically unnecessary, much less, a physician who did so because of Purdue's allegedly misleading marketing or promotional materials," the company's legal filings say.
Ohio leads the nation in overdose deaths, and DeWine maintains the drug companies triggered the crisis by flooding the state with prescription painkillers. His lawsuit claims that in order to boost profits, the companies lied to physicians by overstating the drugs' benefits and downplaying their risks.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, approximately eight Ohioans die every day from unintentional drug overdoses. Last year, more than 4,000 Ohio residents died of unintentional drug overdoses, up 32.8 percent from 2015. The increased overdose rate is largely driven by opioids.
The lawsuit is among more than a dozen civil cases that states, cities and counties filed over the past year against the opioid industry. The strategy echoes lawsuits filed against tobacco companies that resulted in a 1999 settlement of more than $200 billion.
But pharmaceutical industry lawyers say the cases are different because the federal government determined their painkillers are safe and effective when used properly. Purdue's legal filing says that because the FDA approved Oxycontin's painkiller use and safety warnings, federal law blocks Ohio from pursuing legal remedies in state court.
Legal briefs the drug makers filed last week also say DeWine's action should be stayed until the FDA completes a pending scientific assessment of "the risks and benefits of opioid prescription."
The legal filing from Purdue, Teva, Cephalon, Janssen, Endo, Watson and Actavis drug companies said "staying this action until FDA completes its scientific analysis will aid this Court by allowing it to benefit from FDA's medical and regulatory expertise and avoid inconsistent rulings on issues presenting pending before the agency."
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Purdue Pharma seeks dismissal of Ohio lawsuit
Sep 12, 2017 | SCNI
By Paul Schott
Purdue’s bid to dismiss the complaint represents one of several such motions it has filed in recent months in response to lawsuits from a number of local and state prosecutors across the country who argue the Stamford-based company’s top-selling OxyContin opioid has fueled the national epidemic of opioid abuse. Nearly half of all U.S. opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid, with more than 15,000 people dying in 2015 from overdoses connected to those drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is “currently reviewing the filing and will file our response in court in due course,” Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the office, said in an email Monday.
Other defendants in the complaint include the pharmaceutical firms Teva, Cephalon, Janssen, Endo, Watson and Actavis.
The lawsuit filed by DeWine accuses Purdue and the other defendants of violating state law by making false and misleading statements about the risks and benefits of opioids. Their marketing allegedly included medical journal advertising, sales representative statements and the use of “front groups” to provide information that downplayed the risks and inflated the benefits of certain opioid formulations.
Purdue officials countered that the lawsuit failed to show proof of those accusations.
“The state does not identify a single physician who prescribed one of Purdue’s opioid medications to any patient when it was allegedly medically unnecessary, much less a physician who did so because of Purdue’s allegedly misleading marketing or promotional materials,” Purdue wrote in its filing. “Nor does the state identify a single claim for reimbursement for a Purdue opioid prescription (or any defendant’s opioid) that was allegedly improper.”
Purdue officials said they also took issue with an allegation that the company illegally neglected to report suspicious orders to the government and identify over-prescribing physicians. Federal regulations used by the state would “place no duty” on Purdue to report the alleged suspicious orders because those orders are not placed with Purdue but with wholesale distributors, Purdue wrote in its filing.
Purdue’s response also asserts that the lawsuit’s claims contradict U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations. The FDA approved OxyContin in 1995, although the drug has since been reformulated and now faces greater scrutiny from the federal agency.
“The complaint continues to assert state law claims against Purdue based on marketing and statements that are consistent with FDA-approved labeling, including after FDA addressed the same claims the state makes about the available evidence on the safety and efficacy of the medications for long-term use,” Purdue officials wrote.
In addition, Purdue and the other defendants argue the Ohio lawsuit oversteps its authority in essentially asking a court to determine what patients and doctors should know about opioid medications. The FDA should make those decisions, they said.
“A stay in favor of FDA’s primary jurisdiction is appropriate,” the defendants wrote. “It will allow FDA to complete its scientific evaluation, apply its medical and regulatory expertise, and address important and complex public health questions, concerning the proper use of these medications.”
Purdue faces about 20 pending lawsuits, according to company officials.
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Pharmaceutical Company Respond to Ohio's Opioid Crisis Lawsuit
Sep 12, 2017 | Cleveland Scene
By Eric Sandy
Now, Purdue Pharma is arguing that the suit should be tossed.
The central contention is that DeWine is seeking to circumvent federal regulations by using state law to hold Purdue and the other companies liable. The FDA already imposes labeling rules "based on its expert review of the risk-benefit information related to opioid use, abuse, misuse, addiction, overdose, duration of use, and daily dose," a Purdue spokesperson tells Scene via email.
The company insists that the state's civil action "does not establish the requisite 'reasonable connection'" between Purdue's marketing statements and the mounting opioid overdose death toll.
Ohio, of course, is at the helm of the country's pharmaceutical and heroin addiction problem, with more than 4,000 residents fatally overdosing last year on a small variety of opioids. Medical examiners across the state have predicted even greater numbers of deaths in 2017.
"Quite candidly, I think it's my moral obligation to do this," DeWine said in May. "I don't want to look back 10 years from now and say we should have had the guts to file, we should have had the guts to call a spade a spade. ... There's not a lot of precedent for this action."
At the time, Ohio followed only Mississippi in movement of states against major pharmaceutical companies. Since then, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Missouri and Oklahoma have filed similar suits.
Last month, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a national emergency, which theoretically should unlock more federal funds for drug treatment and a spectrum of resources at more local levels of government (like outfitting police departments with Narcan). No formal action has been taken since Trump’s announcement, though.
We'll keep an eye on this suit and others as they work their way through the courts.
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Drug companies push back in court against DeWine opioid lawsuit
Sep 12, 2017 | The Columbus Dispatch
By Alan Johnson
The five drug companies Attorney General Mike DeWine sued for allegedly getting Ohioans hooked on narcotic painkillers want a judge to dismiss the case while a federal agency looks into the subject of addiction.
Purdue Pharma, a Stamford, Connecticut, company whose products include the widely prescribed opioid OxyContin, and four other companies filed responses to DeWine’s lawsuit Friday in Ross County Common Pleas Court. That is where DeWine filed suit May 31 against Purdue Pharma and the other companies, arguing they triggered a “human tragedy of epic proportion” in Ohio.
DeWine said in his lawsuit that the companies “got thousands and thousands of Ohioans — our friends, our family members, our co-workers, our kids — addicted to opioid pain medications, which has all too often led to use of the cheaper alternatives of heroin and synthetic opioids.”
Attorneys for Purdue Pharma asked Common Pleas Court Judge Scott W. Nusbaum to either stay or dismiss the case while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control assesses the “benefits and risks of opioid pain medication.”
Further, the company’s attorneys said dismissing the lawsuit would be “in the interest of justice” since DeWine’s action “has the potential to harm thousands of Ohioans suffering from chronic pain and to create inconsistencies adversely affecting millions of these individuals across the country.”
They also allege federal law will block DeWine’s suit because what he is seeking drug from companies would force them to make statements about the “safety and efficacy of its medications” that differ from federal requirements.
The other four drug manufacturers named in the lawsuit are Endo Health Solutions; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Israel and subsidiary Cephalon; Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals; and Allergan. All filed responses in Nusbaum’s court.
Several Ohio cities and counties have since filed similar lawsuits against drug companies, seeking financial damages because of the problems caused by drug overdose deaths and addiction.
The Ohio Department of Health recently reported the state recorded 4,050 overdose deaths last year, an increase of 1,000, or 33 percent, increase over 2015.
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Purdue Pharma seeks dismissal of Ohio opioid-abuse lawsuit
Sep 11, 2017 | Westfair Online
By Kevin Zimmerman
Stamford-based Purdue Pharma has filed a motion to throw out the state of Ohio’s lawsuit against it, at nearly the same time that New Mexico joined a growing list of plaintiffs suing it and other opioid manufacturers over their marketing practices.
Purdue filed its motion late on Sept. 8 in Ohio state court in response to Attorney General Mike DeWine’s lawsuit accusing it and four other opioid makers of using misleading marketing to trick doctors into overprescribing opioids.
Purdue contends that since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its product Oxycontin for use as a painkiller and approved its safety warnings, federal law prohibits Ohio from seeking to hold it liable under state law. Purdue maintains that it properly disclosed possible addiction risks on its warning labels.
Ohio’s claims are “pre-empted by federal law because they would require Purdue to make statements about the safety and efficacy of its medications that are different from what the FDA approved,’’ the company’s lawyers said in the filing.
In addition, Ohio’s lawsuit “does not identify a single physician who prescribed one of Purdue’s opioid medications to any patient when it was allegedly medically unnecessary, much less, a physician who did so because of Purdue’s allegedly misleading marketing or promotional materials,” according to the filing.
Meanwhile, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas has filed a lawsuit accusing Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Allergan Plc, Endo International Plc and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. of deceptive marketing practices. It also maintains that wholesale distributors McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. of breaching their legal duties to monitor, detect and report suspicious orders of prescription opioids.
Similar cases against Purdue and other drugmakers have been filed by Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire and South Carolina, as well as several cities and counties in states including California, Illinois, New York and, late last month, in Waterbury.
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Opioid maker cites FDA decisions in defense against Ohio lawsuit
Sep 11, 2017 | Washington Examiner
By Robert King
Major opioid maker Purdue Pharma is arguing that an Ohio lawsuit should be thrown out because the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of its popular painkiller.
Ohio is among several states suing opioid makers, and claims these companies falsely marketed the drugs and downplayed the addictive effects of opioid painkillers that drove an epidemic still ravaging the United States. Purdue Pharma, maker of popular painkiller Oxycontin, argues that it marketed the drugs according to FDA guidelines.
The lawsuit, and others filed from several states and localities, are a response to a nationwide epidemic that took 33,000 lives in 2015, according to federal data.
Ohio argued in its lawsuit that Purdue Pharma marketed the drugs to treat chronic pain. Ohio defines chronic pain as noncancer pain lasting three or more months. However, Purdue Pharma says that the FDA approved Purdue's long-acting products to treat chronic pain that includes noncancer pain.
Purdue also said the lawsuit is pre-empted by federal law and prior decisions made by the FDA.
For instance, back in 2013 the advocacy group Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing issued a petition asking the FDA to strip the chronic pain indication from opioids' label. FDA declined to strip the indication or add any warning that there isn't enough evidence to show that the benefits outweigh the risks of long-term use in treating non-cancer pain.
Purdue argues that any statements that the painkillers shouldn't be used for noncancer pain would go against FDA labeling and conflict with its obligations under federal law.
Purdue also faces lawsuits from Oklahoma, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Several counties in New York and California, as well as the city of Chicago, have sued opioid makers too.
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Sep 12, 2017 | Los Alamos Daily Post
By Carol A. Clark
Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that he has brought a lawsuit on behalf of the State of New Mexico against the country’s largest manufacturers and wholesale distributors of opioids, a crucial first step toward holding these companies responsible for flooding New Mexico’s communities with prescription opioids and fueling the opioid epidemic by putting profits over people.
The State of New Mexico is filing suit against five of the largest manufacturers of prescription opioids and their related companies and against the country’s three largest wholesale drug distributors. The manufacturing companies pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids, falsely representing to doctors that patients would only rarely succumb to drug addiction, while the distributors breached their legal duties to monitor, detect, investigate, refuse and report suspicious orders of prescription opioids.
“New Mexico continues to endure the most catastrophic effects of the opioid crisis, all while major out of state corporations make billions in profits at the expense of our families and communities,” Balderas said. “This lawsuit is part of my office’s multi-pronged effort, Project OPEN, to combat the opioid crisis in New Mexico by holding drug manufacturers and distributors accountable, securing treatment resources, and increasing funding for law enforcement.”
“I support Attorney General Balderas’ continued efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, particularly in Rio Arriba County,” Española Mayor Alice Lucero said. “Families in Española know all too well what the realities of this crisis look like and this action is much needed to stop the flood of these dangerous drugs into our community.”
“As the District Attorney of communities with some of the highest opioid and heroin abuse rates in the country, I see the daily effects of this crisis in our own backyards,” said 1st Judicial District Attorney Marco Serna. “Attorney General Balderas’ efforts to combat this problem are part of a crucial statewide solution, and are the only way rural communities will be protected from this epidemic. I helped Attorney General Balderas launch Project OPEN earlier this year and I will continue to partner with his office to combat this crisis as one jurisdiction cannot do it alone.”
“The Doña Ana County District Attorney’s Office supports Attorney General Balderas’ lawsuit and leadership on this important issue, and I look forward to hosting the next Project OPEN with the Attorney General in Las Cruces,” said 3rd Judicial District Attorney Mark D’Antonio. We must attack the opioid crisis that is ravaging our families and straining our law enforcement resources in Doña Ana County and across New Mexico.”
Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said, “The opioid crisis is spreading across New Mexico at an alarming rate and in Las Cruces we are working to get ahead of the epidemic by focusing on prevention and treatment. That is why I am proud to partner with Attorney General Balderas to host the next Project OPEN training in Las Cruces and to support his lawsuit seeking critical resources for New Mexico communities in this battle.”
The lawsuit was filed in the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe County. The lawsuit alleges, among numerous counts, that the drug manufacturers falsely and misleadingly downplayed the serious risk of addiction to prescription opioids and falsely touted the benefits of long-term opioid use, reversing the popular and medical understanding of opioids. The wholesale distributors, meanwhile, violated their duties by selling huge quantities of opioids that were diverted from their lawful, medical purpose, thus causing an opioid and heroin addiction and overdose epidemic in the State of New Mexico.
The opioid epidemic has grown worse as people addicted to prescription pills have-- thanks to heightened enforcement efforts--found them harder to come by. Very often, these individuals have turned to cheaper, illegal street drugs including heroin and fentanyl. The residents of New Mexico continue to bear the burden of the epidemic as the costs of health care, addiction treatment, education, and law enforcement have continued to rise.
While deaths in New Mexico due to illicit drugs have remained steady during the past 10 years, deaths due to prescription drugs – particularly opioid pain relievers – have increased dramatically, nearly doubling between 2000 and 2014. New Mexico’s death rate from drug overdose grew in lockstep with the increasing sale and distribution of opioid drugs by the manufacturers and wholesale distributors. The New Mexico Department of Health estimates that in 2007 alone prescription opioid abuse and misuse cost the State of New Mexico $890 million for items such as excess medical and prescription costs, lost earnings from premature deaths and costs associated with correctional facilities and police services.
Attorney General Balderas filed this lawsuit as part of the Office of the Attorney General’s Project OPEN: Opioid Prevention & Education Network. Through this targeted enforcement effort, the Office of the Attorney General works aggressively to bring civil enforcement actions against individuals and businesses who have harmed vulnerable New Mexican populations and New Mexican taxpayers.
THE PROBLEM:
· Since 2008, New Mexico has had one of the highest rates of drug overdose death in the United States.
· On average, over 500 New Mexicans die annually of a drug overdose, and approximately 70% of those deaths resulted from either opioid pain relievers or heroin.
· On average, that’s seven deaths a week resulting from either opioid pain relievers or heroin.
· In Rio Arriba County and Mora County, overdose death rates were more than five times the national rate.
· DOH reports that Naloxone was deployed by self-reporting individuals pursuant to the needle exchange program 850 times in 2014 and 790 times in 2015 in the State of New Mexico (otherwise resulting in overdose/wrongful deaths in the State of New Mexico).
· Close to half of NM counties have a drug overdose death rate that is one and half times higher than the US rate.
· New Mexico’s death rate from prescription drugs exceeds the statewide death rate from illicit drugs in more than half of the counties.
· Over the last 14 years, we have seen overdose deaths caused by prescription opioids rise faster than deaths caused by heroin.
· Drug overdose deaths and opioid-involved deaths continue to increase in the United States. The majority of drug overdose deaths (more than six out of ten) involve an opioid. Since 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) quadrupled.
· From 2000 to 2015 more than half a million people died in the US from drug overdoses.
· In New Mexico, Hispanic men had the highest drug overdose death rate with an average age of death of 45.
· In Lincoln County, 92.6% of every 100 citizens has a prescription for opioids.
· In over a third of NM counties, over 80% of every 100 citizens has a prescription for opioids.
· Approximately 175,800 people in New Mexico are currently prescribed opioids.
· More people use prescription opioids than tobacco.
· In Rio Arriba County, 64 out of every 1000 babies born suffers from Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome--a condition caused when the child is exposed to addictive opioids while in the womb and is born addicted. That’s 10 times the national average for this syndrome.
· Drug overdose deaths as a leading cause of death has surpassed motor vehicle crash deaths in New Mexico.
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Sep 12, 2017 | The Wall Street Journal
By Jeanne Whalen and Sara Randazzo
A group of opioid painkiller makers has asked an Ohio court to dismiss the state's case alleging the companies misrepresented the addiction risks of their drugs, arguing the lawsuit is "fatally defective."
Ohio's lawsuit, filed in state court in May, targeted parent companies or subsidiaries of Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Allergan PLC and Endo International PLC, alleging they fraudulently marketed their drugs by overselling the benefits and playing down the addictive risks of the painkillers, helping create an addiction crisis.
Since then a number of other states have filed similar lawsuits against painkiller makers or distributors, including New Hampshire, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri and New Mexico.
In a joint motion to dismiss, the companies argued that Ohio failed to offer any specifics to its fraud allegations, as required under the law, and that the claims are pre-empted by federal law and Food and Drug Administration regulations.
The companies also took issue with one of Ohio's main claims: that the drug industry engaged in a decadeslong fraud to persuade doctors and patients to use opioids for chronic pain rather than just severe, short-term pain.
The FDA has approved extended release, long-acting versions of some opioids to be used to treat chronic pain, the companies argued, which they said undermines Ohio's allegations.
"At its core, the complaint seeks to substitute the Ohio Attorney General's judgment about how to weigh the risks and benefits of chronic opioid therapy for the FDA's judgment," the companies said.
In addition to the joint request, the manufacturers each filed separate motions to dismiss the case.
The pharmaceutical companies also argued that Ohio failed to support two additional claims: that the defendants deceived the state into reimbursing opioid prescriptions, or that specific doctors relied on the companies' allegedly fraudulent marketing when writing prescriptions.
On Monday, the Ohio Attorney General's office said it was reviewing the companies' filings and would file a response in court "in due course."
Should the court decline to dismiss the case, the defendants requested in a separate joint filing that the court stay, or suspend, the case pending what they described as an FDA review of opioid painkillers. The FDA, the defendants said, has asked opioid companies to conduct additional studies to assess the risks of addiction, overdose and death associated with long-term use of opioid painkillers.
The FDA has "primary jurisdiction" over drug safety and efficacy matters, the defendants argued. The FDA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Drugmakers Slam Ohio AG's Suit Over Opioid Crisis
Sep 12, 2017 | Law360
By Rachel Graf
Purdue Pharma, Allergan, Endo, Johnson & Johnson unit Janssen and Teva unit Cephalon urged an Ohio state court Friday to dismiss the state attorney general's allegations that the pharmaceutical companies contributed to the opioid epidemic by downplaying their treatments' risks.
The companies said Attorney General Mike DeWine's claims are preempted by federal law because the safety representations were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The allegations also lack specific details and proof that physicians relied on the alleged misrepresentations when prescribing the treatments, according to the filing.
"The state claims that because defendants allegedly misrepresented the safety and risks of opioids in certain marketing and promotional materials, many of which are over a decade old, defendants are somehow responsible for the litany of opioid-related social and public-health issues facing Ohio citizens," the filing said.
Allergan PLC sells Kadian, Norco and several generics, the latter of which are actually owned by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Teva unit Cephalon Inc. sells Actiq and Fentora. Purdue Pharma sells OxyContin, MS Contin, Dilaudid, Butrans, Hysingla and Targiniq. Endo Health Solutions Inc. sells Percocet, Percodan, Opana and Zydone. Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. sells Duragesic and Nucynta.
DeWine alleged the drugmakers violated the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act and "created a public nuisance by disseminating false and misleading statements about the risks and benefits of opioids." Such advertising was in medical journals and through sales representatives and so-called front groups that gave information about the drugs, the suit says.
But the drugmakers said Friday that DeWine hasn't detailed the "who, what, where, when or how" of the allegedly wrongfully prescribed opioids. The complaint improperly treats competing drugmakers as a single entity as well, the filing said.
Moreover, the allegations that the companies "deceptively promoted" their medications for long-term treatment of chronic pain are preempted by federal law, since the FDA already approved the medications for such a use, the companies said.
DeWine doesn't demonstrate that the state depended upon the companies' alleged misrepresentations when reimbursing opioid prescriptions, nor does he prove that physicians relied on the claims when prescribing opioids, the companies added.
In a separate dismissal bid, Allergan argued the allegations against it should be tossed because the suit centers around conduct that occurred almost two decades before the drugmaker began to market its opioid Kadian.
If the court decides against tossing the allegations, the companies jointly asked that the case be stayed while the FDA evaluates the risks and benefits of opioid pain medication. To determine whether the companies misrepresented the benefits and risks of opioids, the court will need to know what these benefits and risks are, the companies argued. They noted that the FDA is currently carrying out such an assessment.
New York's Suffolk County, two California counties and Chicago have also sued these drugmakers over their alleged contribution to the addiction crisis.
Representatives for Purdue and Teva declined to comment. Counsel or representatives for the other pharmaceutical companies and for DeWine didn’t respond Monday to requests for comment.
Ohio is represented by Mark H. Troutman, Shawn Judge and Gregory Travalio of Isaac Wiles Burkholder & Teetor LLC, Steve W. Berman, Emilee Sisco and Jennifer Fountain Connolly of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Mike Moore and Jonathan Compretta of Mike Moore Law Firm LLC, Jay Ward of McGowan Hood & Felder LLC, and John L. Davidson of Davidson Bowie PLLC.
Purdue is represented by Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease LLP, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP. Johnson & Johnson is represented by Tucker Ellis LLP, O'Melveny & Myers LLP and Covington & Burling LLP. Endo is represented by BakerHostetler and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP. Allergan is represented by Thompson Hine LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Teva is represented by Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP and Calfee Halter & Griswold LLP.
The case is State of Ohio ex rel. Mike DeWine, Ohio Attorney General v. Purdue Pharma LP et al., case number 17CI000261, in the Common Pleas Court of Ross County, Ohio. -
Princeton City Council votes to sue drug companies over opioid epidemic
Sep 12, 2017 | Bluefield Daily Telegraph (WV)
By Greg Jordan
After hearing a Charleston attorney’s presentation, the Princeton City Council voted Monday to pursue legal action against pharmaceutical companies over the area’s opioid drug epidemic.
Attorney Rusty Webb of Charleston spoke before the council during its regular September meeting about pursuing legal action against two drug companies, Amerisourcebergen Drug Corporation and Cardinal Health Inc. as well as pharmacies within the city and outside the city limits.
“One of the problems we have in Princeton, southern West Virginia, West Virginia and the United States of America is our drug problem,” Mayor Dewey Russell said. “It’s more than serious. It’s an epidemic, it’s a war.”
Webb made a presentation to the city council two months ago about the opioid problem, Russell said. The city council thought it had a responsibility to address the drug epidemic.
“I think Council Member (James) Harvey said it very plainly: We have a responsibility, and as the elected officials of this city, we have to accept this responsibility,” Russell stated. “It’s touched about every family in southern West Virginia.”
Webb said the suits against drug distributors started in 2012 when former Attorney General Darrell McGraw filed a lawsuit against about 15 drug distributors which had sent “a high, a very high amount of oxycodone and hydrocodone drugs in the state of West Virginia.”
The cases were settled in 2016 when the companies, except for one holdout, paid approximately $40 million. This spurred the state’s cities and counties to file legal actions of their own, Webb said. He stated that he and two other groups started to investigate on the behalf of cities and counties “which had huge nuisance damages associated with the opioid epidemic.”
“McDowell County is the lead county as far as the group of counties go and I represent the city of Huntington and that’s my lead case. I represent a number of cities which are up to 15 and if Princeton joins up it will be 16 cities I represent,” Webb told the council.
Russell asked Webb if more up-to-date statistics on the amount of opioids sent to the Princeton area were available. Webb replied that his group was still trying to get those figures. Once a lawsuit proceeds, those could be obtained. Webb added after additional questions were asked that all the lawsuits filed so far were based on the 2007 to 2012 statistics.
An executive session had not been placed on the council’s agenda, but Webb said he would provide the information he wished to discuss in executive session to City Attorney Paul Cassell. The suit would include the two drug distributors and some pharmacies in Princeton and in the county, and the city would pay a 25 percent contingency fee if it is successful. Webb declined to name the pharmacies which could be part of the lawsuit.
The council later voted to retain Webb’s services and to authorize City Manager Kenneth Clay to sign the contract on the city’s behalf. Council Member Jacqueline Russell was the only one to vote against the motion. She said later that she wanted to see more updated information before deciding whether to support a lawsuit.
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New Mexico Attorney General sues pharmaceutical companies amidst opioid crisis
Sep 11, 2017 | KVIA
By Kate Bieri
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is suing pharmaceutical companies in the state in the midst of New Mexico's opioid crisis, his Deputy Attorney General announced Monday.
"Taking this legal action is only one of the steps that we are doing in protecting New Mexicans against the opioid epidemic," said Deputy Attorney General Tania Maestas. She said that one New Mexican dies an opioid-related death every day.
The suit accuses opioid manufacturers of aggressively pushing highly addictive and dangerous drugs and falsely representing to doctors that patients would rarely succumb to addiction. It accuses distributors of failing to monitor, investigate and report suspicious orders of prescription opiates.
Balderas said the lawsuit is modeled after past litigation against tobacco companies to funnel private profits toward drug treatment and law enforcement.Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima and Doña Ana District Attorney Mark D'Antonio joined Maestas in her announcement at Las Cruces City Hall.
D'Antonio described the epidemic as "ravaging our families and placing an enormous stress on our law enforcement resources in Doña Ana County."
"This opioid crisis is spreading at an alarming rate throughout New Mexico," Miyagishima said.
Maestas also said that the state will be hosting the third of a three-part training for law enforcement and community members in Las Cruces.
"The attorney general's lawsuit is an important step to holding those companies accountable for their role in crating this very serious and deadly problem," D'Antonio said.
"We want to make sure that we deal with the situation and eradicate it as quickly as possible," Miyagishima said.
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Democrats to Trump: Where’s your opioids emergency declaration?
Sep 12, 2017 | Washington Times
By Tom Howell Jr.
Senate Democrats pressed President Trump Monday to explain why he hasn’t followed through on his intent to declare the opioids crisis a national emergency, saying it causes them to question his pledge to throw more resources at the problem.
One month ago, Mr. Trump stunned lawmakers by saying his team was “drawing documents” to follow through on the emergency declaration — the first and most urgent recommendation of the White House commission on heroin and prescription painkiller addiction led by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
“Since then, however, your administration has yet to make such a declaration, leaving another unfilled promise to provide overdue relief to the individuals and communities who continue to suffer,” a group of 10 Senate Democrats wrote in a letter to Mr. Trump.
Democrats reacted with guarded optimism at the time of Mr. Trump’s announcement Aug. 10, delivered verbally during a working vacation at his New Jersey golf club. The pronouncement came just days after his health secretary, Tom Price, suggested the president didn’t need emergency powers to fight the epidemic.
At the time, Democrats from hard-hit states such as New Hampshire and West Virginia said they shared Mr. Trump’s concern but wanted to see more details, citing the administration’s support for cuts to Medicaid insurance and other programs that deliver opioids treatment or focus on drug addiction.
Democrats reissued those complaints Monday.
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Huckabee Sanders Floats Garbage Excuses for Trump's Opioid Emergency Lie (OPINION)
Sep 11, 2017 | Independent Journal Review
By Gary Legum
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was very put out at Monday's press briefing because reporters kept asking her about Steve Bannon's combative lunacy of an interview on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night. Wasn't there any reporter there who wanted to ask her a question on some other topic that she could spin, deflect and obfuscate?
Yes, you, Hallie Jackson of NBC, you have a question about the opioid crisis. A grateful press secretary thanks you for your service:
JACKSON: Something that happened back on August 10, as you know, which is the president declaring that he wanted to have a national emergency when it came to the opioid crisis. It has now been more than a month since he said that. That's a delay for a president who likes to do things quickly, as he has often said. Is the president taking this seriously enough, and when does he intend to declare this emergency and actually get the ball rolling on that?
SANDERS: Absolutely taking it very seriously. The commission and members of the administration have continued to meet and work on the details of that national declaration, and that's certainly a big priority for the administration, and we'll continue to focus on pushing that through.
OK, done deal, right? No:
JACKSON: What's taking so long? You know, this is a president who —
SANDERS: It's a much more involved process, and that's something that they're working through on the legal side, the administrative side, and making sure that it's done correctly.
That is likely true, but still, the slowness that Jackson mentioned has been much remarked upon lately. Especially considering how the president's decision to declare a state of emergency came into being.
A quick timeline: On July 31, Trump's opioid commission, chaired by Chris Christie, issued a report recommending the president declare a state of emergency on the crisis and do so swiftly. That would allow the Health and Human Services secretary, Tom Price, to deploy resources to fight opioid addiction.
He could authorize Medicaid money to go toward treatment, redeploy substance abuse counselors to areas with high rates of addiction, and waive restrictions on using naloxone and other medications that treat overdoses, just to name a few.
However, a week after the report came out, Price publicly said that declaring an emergency was unnecessary and that he already was working with various agencies on a plan to combat the crisis. Price had reportedly been loath to declare an official state of emergency because of the costs associated with freeing up some of the resources such a declaration would entail.
Then two days later, during some idle yapping on one of his golf courses, Trump said:
“The opioid crisis is an emergency. And I'm saying officially right now, it is an emergency. It's a national emergency. We're going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of money on the opioid crisis.”
This has left the administration scrambling to change course.
So the best guess: Trump had no idea what it means for a president to declare a national emergency or that it is not just a matter of him saying, “Yes it's an emergency,” just before heading off to the tee box on the first hole but involves an actual legal and bureaucratic process.
Now, his secretary of HHS and other officials are either fighting behind the scenes to figure out how to free up the resources to take on a directive of a national emergency declaration or trying to slow down the process out of a resistance to spending money or using too many government resources to help people who need treatment, or slow-walking their work out of pique.
Or the understaffed administration doesn't have enough people to work on the issue with all the other crises (hurricanes, North Korea) that have been sucking up so much attention and energy.
Any way you slice it, however, it all comes down to the president throwing his administration into chaos through an idle comment whose import escapes him. Again.
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Plans for drug abuse emergency join others in the slow lane
Sep 12, 2017 | Newsday
By Dan Janison
One month ago, President Donald Trump said he was about to brand widespread opioid abuse a national emergency. “It’s a serious problem the likes of which we’ve never had,” he said.
Formally declaring an emergency would allow federal agencies to quickly take steps and tap more funds for treatment and prevention.
Trump said Aug. 10 the White House was drawing up the necessary documents.
There has been no visible action since.
“The president’s policy advisers are working through the details with all of the relevant components and agencies,” a spokesman said. Monday. “Right now, these actions are undergoing a legal review.”
Sometimes, what Trump proclaims to be a matter of urgency one month can end up on a back burner the next for practical, political or legal reasons.
The White House’s partial ban on travelers from a half-dozen mostly Muslim nations continues grinding through the courts.
The ban was initially announced in January as giving the government time to “improve screening and vetting protocols and procedures.”
Even now, it is difficult to tell if this improvement has been carried out.
Obamacare remains the law of the land. Before Congress failed to repeal and replace it as vowed, Trump warned that so-called cost-sharing payments to insurance companies would end. They have not yet.
High-profile efforts to crush the violent drug gang MS-13 are met with widespread public approval on Long Island. But they are carried out by the Justice Department and local agencies with an acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York in office.
U.S. Attorney Robert Capers was told to resign in March and did so. Bridget M. Rohde, who was his chief assistant, is still serving in the interim. Six months later, no candidate for a successor to Capers has been nominated. The same is true for the U.S. attorney for the Southern District in Manhattan.
In the four weeks that have passed since Trump’s “fire and fury” warning to North Korea, those expecting a clear resolution to the rogue nation’s nuclear threat still wait.
There has been nonmilitary action. On Monday, spokesmen for Kim Jong Un issued a typical warning that the U.S. would pay a “due price” for harsher sanctions pending before the UN Security Council.
“The DPRK is ready and willing to use any form of ultimate means,” the statement said.
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State leaders waiting on Trump to declare opioid crisis a state of emergency
Sep 11, 2017 | WWLP (MA)
By Tashanea Whitlow
Massachusetts’ senators are among a group of ten who are calling on President Trump to fight the opioid epidemic.
Four weeks ago, President Trump said he would declare a state of emergency in response to the opioid crisis. Understanding that he’s been dealing with north Korea and a hurricane response, the senators want the president to keep the crisis a priority.
The Commission on Combating Drug Addiction in June, delivered recommendations to President Trump on how to fight the opioid epidemic.
“I don’t think he’s really doing enough, in general, with his presidency,” said Katy Beyer of Northampton. “I think that the opioid epidemic is a huge problem across the country, but particularly in New England it’s a huge issue. I don’t think he tends to care about the areas that did not vote for him.”
Four weeks later, 10 senators, including Massachusetts Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, want to know when the president plans to make good on his promise.
Some people told 22News, with so much happening in the country, right now, the President has other pressing issues.
“There’s so much going on its really hard to kinda keep your focus on one thing,” Casey Morrison of Colorado told 22News. “With everything that’s going on in the country, it’s really hard to deal with. I think that state and local governments probably need to do a better job of handling it.”
The opioid epidemic claimed more than 50,000 lives in 2015. Two thousand people died from overdoses in Massachusetts last year.
The CDC awarded $28,000 to help states fight the opioid overdose epidemic. The senators want the president to detail his plan to fight the epidemic.
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Brown to White House on Opioid declaration: Take immediate action
Sep 12, 2017 | Circleville Herald
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and nine of their colleagues Monday to call on President Donald Trump to take immediate action on the opioid crisis and answer specific questions about the President’s overdue promise to declare the epidemic a national emergency. Brown applauded the formation of the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis and several of its recommendations, which echoed his work to combat the opioid epidemic in the Senate.
In July, the Commission provided a number of recommendations to help address the opioid crisis, including declaring a national emergency. Unfortunately, President Trump has yet to act on any of the Commission’s recommendations. In the letter sent to the White House today, the Senators ask how the administration is evaluating the emergency declaration recommendation and the steps it will take to end the opioid use disorder and overdose crisis.
“Regardless of whether you choose to declare a state of emergency, continued inaction on this issue is deeply concerning,” wrote Brown and the Senators in the letter. “In order to effectively treat this crisis with the urgency it demands, we believe you must take action immediately to expand treatment capacity, increase prevention efforts (including prescriber education initiatives), improve data sharing, and support detection and interdiction efforts to address the supply side of this epidemic – all recommendations for action proposed by the Commission you created.”
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) also signed the letter.
The letter calls on the White House to implement several recommendations from the Administration’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. Several of the Commission’s recommendations are proposals Brown has worked on, including:Eliminating an outdated cap on the number of beds at substance abuse treatment facilities that can be covered under Medicaid.Increasing access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT).Increasing access to naloxone.Developing better fentanyl detection devices for local, state and federal law enforcement, and supporting legislation Brown is supporting to stop the flow of synthetic opioids through the U.S.
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Senate Dems demand Trump take action on opioids
Sep 11, 2017 | The Hil
By Nathaniel Weixel
A group of Democratic senators is demanding President Trump take action to combat the opioid epidemic, nearly a month after the president declared it a national emergency.
In a letter sent Monday, Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and nine other Democrats asked Trump how the administration is evaluating the emergency declaration recommendation and the steps it will take to end "the opioid use disorder and overdose crisis."
On Aug. 10, Trump said the opioid epidemic was a national emergency, but nothing has happened since. No paperwork has been issued formally declaring an emergency, and no new policies have been announced.
“Regardless of whether you choose to declare a state of emergency, continued inaction on this issue is deeply concerning,” the senators wrote.
There’s no established procedure for an emergency related to opioid abuse, which is new territory for the federal government.
The opioid epidemic is a chronic problem, and national emergencies are usually only intended to provide short-term relief.
“Your lack of action — coupled with your support of policies that would make access to substance use disorder care more difficult for millions of Americans — causes us to question your commitment to ending the opioid use disorder and overdose crisis,” the letter said.
Trump’s announcement appeared to take his staff by surprise, as Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said the administration wouldn’t declare the crisis a national emergency.
According to the White House, Trump is considering all options available to him.
“The president instructed his administration to take all appropriate and emergency measures to confront the opioid crisis. Right now these actions are undergoing a legal review,” a White House spokesman told The Hill in August.
Meanwhile, two natural disasters and the expensive recovery operations in Texas and Florida have complicated the administration’s efforts.
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Bay State senators press Trump on opioids
Sep 12, 2017 | Lowell Sun
By Colin A. Young
Massachusetts' two U.S. senators were among 10 Senate Democrats who sent a letter to the White House on Monday questioning whether President Donald Trump truly wants to end the opioid crisis.
At issue is the fact that Trump's administration has not moved to formally act on the recommendations of the White House's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, on which Gov. Charlie Baker serves.
"(Y)our lack of action -- coupled with your support for policies that would make access to substance use disorder care and treatment more difficult for millions of Americans -- causes us to question your commitment to ending the opioid use disorder and overdose crisis," U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, and eight other senators wrote to the president. "Regardless of whether you choose to declare a state of emergency, continued inaction on this issue is deeply concerning."
The president's commission issued an interim report at the end of July, in which it recommended that Trump immediately declare a national emergency because opioid overdoses were killing 142 Americans each day -- a death toll equal to that of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 every three weeks, the commission said.
"You, Mr. President, are the only person who can bring this type of intensity to the emergency and we believe you have the will to do so and will do so immediately," the commission wrote in its report.
Asked about the recommendation last month, the president said, "We're going to draw it up, and we're going to make it a national emergency." Trump said his administration would "spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis," according to a pool report.
But a month later the White House has not declared the opioid crisis a national emergency, and the 10 senators who wrote to Trump on Monday asked the president to detail how his administration will work to address the opioid crisis, with or without an emergency declaration.
Though he does not support Trump and did not cast a vote for president last year, Baker accepted an invitation from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to serve on Trump's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. The commission issued its interim report in July and is expected to release a full report of its findings in October.
"Governor Baker appreciates the senators' acknowledgement of the important work this bipartisan commission has undertaken to address the nation's opioid epidemic," Baker spokesman Billy Pitman said in an email. "While significant steps have been taken in Massachusetts, including first in the nation prescription limits and increased funding for treatment and recovery, the Baker-Polito Administration believes federal support is critical and looks forward to federal partners acting on the bipartisan commission's recommendations."
The letter, which Markey's office said he spearheaded, was also signed by Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.
The senators asked the White House if its legal team is reviewing an emergency declaration, whether that review is being expedited, what actions the administration would take after declaring an emergency and whether the White House plans to implement any of the other recommendations from the commission.
The latest Massachusetts Department of Public Health quarterly report on opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts tracked 978 confirmed and estimated opioid deaths from January through June, a 5 percent decrease from the 1,031 in the first half of 2016. A separate analysis released by DPH last month found that non-fatal overdoses increased by approximately 200 percent between 2011 and 2015, and more than 4 percent of Massachusetts residents aged 11 and up had an opioid use disorder in 2015.
Last month, as some moved to distance themselves from ties to Trump, Baker's office said the governor plans to continue serving on the commission, despite his proclamation that he was "deeply disappointed" in Trump's response to white nationalist violence in Virginia.
A former health care executive, Baker has repeatedly said he thinks the Bay State's attempt to curb opioid addiction -- with methods such as mandating training by medical staff, adding treatment options and limiting first-time narcotic prescriptions -- could serve as a nationwide model. The commission's interim report included initiatives favored by Baker, including data sharing, prescriber education and access to narcan.
In March 2016, Baker signed into law a bill that limited first-time opiate prescriptions and all opiate prescriptions for minors to a seven-day supply. In addition to first-time prescription limits, the governor has worked with provider groups and the heads of medical schools to improve doctor training for pain management and prescribing practices.
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US seeks a fix for its opioid addiction
Sep 12, 2017 | Financial Times
By David Crow
The bodies keep piling up at the coroner’s office in Dayton, Ohio. “Our cooler space is constantly maxed out,” says Kent Harshbarger, coroner for Montgomery County. “It’s directly linked to the opioid epidemic — there’s no doubt about it.”
Twice this year, Dr Harshbarger’s facility has been so full that he has considered renting refrigeration units elsewhere. At this rate, he expects to carry out autopsies on roughly 1,800 overdose victims from 30 Ohio counties in 2017, more than double last year’s total.
When he qualified as a forensic pathologist in 2001, Dr Harshbarger had been trained how to handle mass transport accidents, natural disasters and pandemic outbreaks. “But nothing like this, not a drug overdose epidemic of this size,” he says. “All those other things have an end point, but this is going to be prolonged for years.”
To cope with the demand, he has started working extra hours and taken on 12 staff, including six pathologists, forcing him to seek an increase in funding from local officials.
The price of dealing with the increase in overdose deaths is just one line in an ever-expanding list of costs associated with the US opioid epidemic, which was last month declared a national emergency by President Donald Trump.
More than 183,000 Americans died from an overdose involving a prescription opioid between 1999 and 2015, and the number of annual fatalities has quadrupled over the same period, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The government agency estimates that roughly 2.6m people are now addicted to drugs derived from the opium poppy.
The statistics understate the true scale of the epidemic because many victims die not from prescription drugs but from illegal opioids such as heroin, which they tend to switch to after becoming hooked on painkillers. The CDC says there were 33,000 such fatalities last year, helping turn drug overdoses into the leading cause of death among the under-50s. Government statistics suggest the total for last year could be higher still.
Police forces say they need more resources to deal with overdoses and drug-fuelled crime, hospitals and health centres are stocking up on naloxone, a pricey antidote that can cost up to $470 per injection, and local government agencies are spending more on treatment and rehabilitation centres. Ohio alone says it spent almost $1bn last year fighting the epidemic.
Faced with the prospect of raising taxes to fund the extra spending, local politicians have instead decided to try to recoup at least some of the money from those they blame for starting the crisis: the drugmakers that made and marketed the drugs, and the wholesalers and pharmacies that distributed them.
In the past year, at least 30 states, cities and counties have either filed lawsuits against drugmakers and distributors or formally recruited lawyers using a process that tends to act as a prelude to full-blown legal action, according to a Financial Times analysis of court documents and government records.
The attempt to hold companies to account has been likened to the legal action that US states brought against the tobacco industry, which resulted in a $200bn settlement in 1998.
“It absolutely could be as big as tobacco,” says Jodi Avergun, a white collar defence lawyer at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, adding that overdoses now cause more fatalities than car accidents and gun homicides combined.
Richard Ausness, a professor at the Kentucky College of Law, predicts all 50 states will launch legal action, along with “thousands of smaller entities like counties and cities”. The legal costs for the companies involved will be “very substantial”, he says.
Law firms are offering to do the work on a “contingent fee basis” meaning their bill is paid by taking a large chunk, usually about a third, from any settlement or damages. If the legal action were to fail entirely, they would not be paid.
Joseph Ciaccio, a lawyer at Napoli Shkolnik, says his firm is “meeting almost every day” with “county officials looking to be reimbursed for what they’ve spent, and to take the burden off the taxpayer.
“We haven’t found a single place that hasn’t been affected,” says Mr Ciaccio, whose company is representing five counties that have launched lawsuits.
Some legal actions target manufacturers. Others focus on distributors. Some take aim at both. For the most part, the plaintiffs argue that drugmakers used aggressive sales tactics to boost revenues from opioids while downplaying the risks, or that wholesalers and pharmacies did little to identify the large numbers of pills that were being diverted to black market dealers.
Among the most commonly named defendants are drugmakers such as Purdue Pharmaceuticals, which is privately owned, Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Mallinckrodt, Endo and Teva; distributors such as McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health; and drugstore chains such as Walgreens and CVS.
All of the companies either denied the allegations or declined to comment, although many added that they recognised the severity of the crisis and wanted to play a role in its resolution.
In a lawsuit filed in May by Ohio, which has become a template for much of the ensuing litigation, the state’s attorney-general alleged that drugmakers used “multiple avenues to disseminate false and deceptive statements” about which patients were appropriate candidates for opioids. Many pain experts say the drugs should only be used in terminally ill people or those suffering from acute episodes of pain, but drugmakers tried to market the pills to patients with chronic conditions like bad backs or necks, the lawsuit alleges.
It points to advertising produced by Endo, which included images of people working “physically demanding jobs” such as construction site employees and chefs, the inference being that the company’s Opana ER drug was suitable for those with long-term pain complaints.
The suit also claims that drugmakers spent large sums — almost $170m in 2014 — on sales representatives to convince doctors to use opioids for chronic pain, while paying fees to a “diverse group of seemingly independent experts” who touted the drugs at conferences and played down addiction risks.
Even after the decline in the number of smokers, the death toll from tobacco still far exceeds the numbers of people being killed by the addiction epidemic. There are around 480,000 fatalities each year related to tobacco, according to the CDC.
But many believe that the financial impact of the opioid crisis — which would be a factor in the size of any damages or settlement — will end up being far greater. Whereas the cost of smoking was largely limited to medical bills, drug addiction is putting pressure on an array of public services, from children’s care to prisons and policing.
“The nature of the injury is different,” says Mr Ausness. “If you get lung cancer, you don’t live for very long, but addiction might be a 20-year or more thing. In some respects it is more permanent.”
Lawyers will have little problem proving that their clients are spending huge sums of money fighting the opioid crisis, according to Ms Avergun. “The costs are astronomical; they’re threatening to bankrupt many counties,” she says.
But it will be much harder to show that pharmaceutical companies and distributors are to blame. Lawyers advising the companies say they believe the plaintiffs will struggle to prove that the actions of drugmakers — negligent or otherwise — were the primary reason or “proximate cause” of the epidemic.
“There are lots of links in the chain,” says a lawyer working for one of the drugmakers. “Sure, the pharma companies designed, developed and marketed the drugs — but regulators approved them, doctors prescribed them and patients took them. To show proximate cause you have to explain that none of the other links made a contribution.”
Ms Avergun agrees. “There is a giant causal gap,” she says.
For that reason, a better analogy for the opioid litigation might be the largely unsuccessful attempts to sue gunmakers, according to Mr Ausness, because there are “several intervening elements between the producer and the victim”.
Furthermore, many fatalities are not caused by people overdosing on prescription pills, but rather heroin laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times more powerful than morphine. Even though roughly four in five heroin addicts say they first became hooked to painkillers, illegal drugs are one of the primary drivers of death and crime, putting some distance between drugmakers and the epidemic.
“Unlike tobacco companies, our products are medicines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, prescribed by doctors, and dispensed by pharmacists, for patients suffering pain,” says a spokesperson for Purdue, adding that it “vigorously” denies the allegations but shares “public officials’ concerns about the opioid crisis”.
Last week, Purdue filed a response to the Ohio lawsuit, arguing it should be dismissed because the FDA’s decision to approve the drug and safety warnings on the label meant the company could not be prosecuted under state law.
Whether juries can be convinced that drugmakers are entirely to blame might turn out to be a moot point, given that lawyers predict the more likely result is an out-of-court settlement.
“It would be remiss of us if we did not explore ways to end this early,” says a lawyer working for one of the pharmaceutical groups. “No one on our side is sitting here pounding the table saying ‘never settle’.”
The main point of contention is the size of any settlement. Whereas the states and counties point to the undeniably high cost of the crisis, attorneys for the companies counter that the opioid industry is tiny compared with tobacco. Tobacco sales in the US generated $94.4bn last year, according to Euromonitor, the data group, whereas the prescription opioid market was worth $8.5bn, according to Quintiles IMS.
Nor is there any certainty that drugmakers could fund a settlement anywhere near the size of the one paid out by tobacco companies in 1998.
J&J, the largest company named in the litigation, has deep pockets, but it sold its opioid franchise in 2015 to Depomed, while Purdue does not disclose its financial results. The public companies that dominate the branded opioid industry — Endo, Depomed and Mallinckrodt — ended last year with aggregate net debts of more than $14bn and have some of the highest borrowing levels in the pharmaceuticals industry.
Even if the two sides could agree on a number, the lawsuits would have to be rolled up into a claim that could be resolved with a single “global” deal. Then the plaintiffs would need to agree on a formula for working out how the cash is divided up, based on the number of overdose deaths or prescriptions written. Lawyers from both sides say it is hard to judge how long it will take to resolve the litigation, although all agree it is likely to be years.
In the meantime, Dr Harshbarger will continue sending local authorities the bills for autopsies on overdose victims. “My situation is kind of unique,” he says, reflecting that he is one of the few people to benefit — financially, at least — from the crisis. “As my workload has gone up, so has my income.”
Social settlement: How drugmakers can help
Lawyers for the opioid makers are hoping they might be able to strike a “social settlement” over the epidemic, whereby they help to address the crisis by donating anti-addiction drugs and money without accepting legal responsibility.
They point to a recent settlement of an antitrust case in Louisiana against Pfizer, which saw the pharmaceuticals group provide the state with 60,000 vials of naloxone, a drug that rapidly halts the effects of opioid overdoses. The medicine was worth a total of roughly $1m.
The case brought by Louisiana’s attorney-general against Pfizer had nothing to do with the opioid epidemic, and instead alleged that the company had tried to stop the introduction of copycat generic versions of one of its other drugs.
But one attorney for an opioid maker said it was an example of how drugmakers had the “resources and wherewithal” to respond to the epidemic, adding that the donation of drugs could be supplemented by offering resources to run addiction treatment centres.
City officials say they intend to pursue legal action, adding the litigation is as much about deterring future misconduct as it is about raising cash.
But some lawyers believe that the demand for immediate solutions could trump a legal victory or multibillion-dollar settlement.
The money subtracted from any settlement to cover legal fees would be “directing resources away from people who need them”, says Jodi Avergun, defence lawyer at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
There is nothing to stop a policy settlement where a fiscal contribution is made in the form of a treatment centre or clinic or another entity.”
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Sep 12, 2017 | WTOL (CBS)
By Toledo, OH
Rough Transcript: new this morning... companies that make prescription opioids want a lawsuit here in ohio to disappear. the state is charging the companies with stoking the state's opioid epidemic. the lawsuit claims that in order to boost profits... the companies lied to physicians by overstating the drugs' benefits and downplaying their risks. the companies are denying that claim.
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WCPO Good Morning Tri-State at 6am
Sep 12, 2017 | WCPO (ABC)
By CIncinnati, OH
Rough Transcript: drug companies are fighting back against an ohio lawsuit. lawsuit. the attorney general wants pharmaceutical companies to pay for public costs related to opioid deaths and addiction.now -- an appeal filed on behalf of those drug companies says a judge should wait as the f-d-a and c-d-c investigate the benefits and risks of opioids prescribed for pain medication.several cities and counties in the tri- state have filed similar lawsuits.
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Sep 12, 2017 | KFOX (Fox)
By El Paso, TX
Rough Transcript: the fight against opioid cris. a free training session will be offered to the community. filed a lawsuit against the pharmacy companies. >> las cruces is working hard to get ahead of the problem and we will host the next traing right here in las cruces where medical professionals and other players and partners will discus and try to beat the dangerous epidemic.
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Sep 12, 2017 | KVIA (ABC)
By El Paso, TX
Rough Transcript: one new mexican dies every day from opioid abuse. that's according to state's attorney general. and now ... 7:07 PMthe state will sue several major pharmaceutical companies in the state. kate bieri heard the plan to combat the epidemic. she's live with our new mexico mobile newsroom. his is a problem felt in every state. since 1999.. deaths resulting from opioid abuse have quadrupled. that's according to the cdc. between 2000 and 2015... half a million people have died from opioid overdoses. the suit targets five manufacturers of prescription opioids, and the three wholesale drug distributors. the state alleges the manufacturers falsely represented to doctors that patients would only rarely develop addictions, and that the distributors failed to honor their legal duties to monitor, investigate, and report suspicious opioidprescriptions. deputy attorney general tania maestas says this suit is only one step the state is taking to combat the cris. the state will also crack down on doctors who over- prescribe. "the attorney general also ha law enforcement authority to go after those criminally who over- prescribe, also has administrative authority to go to do administrative prosecutions over those with licenses, who are giving unfair and deceptive information to patients." the companies have denied wrongdoing in similar cases filed by other states. perdue, the maker of oxycontin, has said it vigorously denies misrepresenting anything about its drugs, but shares officials' concerns about abuse and wants to find solutions.
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