Preview Newsletter
Opioid Litigation Daily Media Report 9/21/17
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Schuette expands opioid war with investigation into opioid manufacturers, distributors
Sep 21, 2017 | The Peninsula
By Chris Galford
As concerns over opioid abuse continue to spread state and nationwide, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced plans this week to investigate manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioid drugs. -
ATTORNEY GENERAL JOSH STEIN TO INVESTIGATE DRUG COMPANIES
Sep 21, 2017 | WWAY
By Jenna Kurzyna
North Carolina’s Attorney General said he will launch an investigation into drug companies and their potential role in the opioid crisis. -
Kansas among states investigating opioid manufacturers and distributors
Sep 21, 2017 | WIBW
By Staff
Kansas is battling opioid abuse by taking part in a multi-state investigation of companies that manufacture and distribute prescription opioid drugs. -
Mississippi Attorney General joins nationwide effort to push opioid alternatives
Sep 21, 2017 | The Clarion Ledger
By Therese Apel
Attorneys General all over the nation are urging health insurance companies to find ways to make non-opioid pain management more accessible for people who are currently using opioids. -
Kansas Among States Investigating Opioid Manufacturers, Distributors
Sep 21, 2017 | KMUW
By Nadya Faulx
Kansas is among the 41 states that are working together to investigate companies that produce and distribute opioids. Deaths related to prescription opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999. -
Madigan Announces Investigations of More Opioid Manufacturers and Distributors
Sep 21, 2017 | Lawndale News
By Editor
Attorney General Lisa Madigan joined with a coalition of 41 attorneys general from across the country to announce their expanded investigations into manufacturers and distributors of opioid drugs. Madigan and the coalition served subpoenas requesting information from opioid manufacturers and distributors to evaluate whether these companies engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing, sale and distribution of opioids. The attorneys general served investigative subpoenas to pharmaceutical companies, including Endo, Janssen, Teva/Cephalon, Allergan and their related entities. The attorneys general also served a supplemental subpoena on Purdue Pharma. In addition to the subpoenas, the attorneys general sent letters to opioid distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson requesting documents detailing their opioid distribution businesses. -
Attorney General Announces Expansion Of Investigations Into Manufacturers & Distributors Of Opioids
Sep 21, 2017 | Levittown Now
By Amanda Burg
Pennsylvania’s attorney general visited Montgomery County Tuesday to announce a major expansion of investigations of manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids. -
Drug companies subpoenaed for multi-state opioid probe
Sep 21, 2017 | Watertown Daily Times
By Brian Molongoski
State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has joined 40 of his counterparts from across the country demanding that opioid manufacturers release information pertaining to an ongoing investigation into their practices. -
Marshall seeking documents from opioid manufacturers
Sep 21, 2017 | The Sand Mountain Reporter
By Staff
Attorney General Steve Marshall announced he is part of a bipartisan coalition of 41 state attorneys general seeking documents and information from manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids as part of multistate investigations into the nationwide opioid epidemic. -
Nebraska joins multistate effort to get at the origins of the opioid crisis
Sep 21, 2017 | Nebraska Radio Network
By Brent Martin
Nebraska is joining 40 other states to investigate the origins of the national opioid crisis. -
Commissioners formally retain law firm to sue drug companies
Sep 21, 2017 | The Times Tribune
By Jeff Hortvath
Lackawanna County Commissioners formally retained a law firm Wednesday for the county’s forthcoming legal battle against more than a dozen drug companies. -
Shelby Co. Commission Considers Joining Lawsuit Against Pharmaceutical Companies Over Opioid Crisis
Sep 20, 2017 | Local Memphis
By Kim Chaney
Shelby County is considering joining a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies that sell opioids. Commissioners met Wednesday morning to discuss the opioid crisis. -
Trump Opioid Commission Delays Final Report
Sep 20, 2017 | Pain News Network
By Pat Anson
The chairman of President Trump’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis has asked for – and apparently been granted – a one month delay in releasing the panel’s final report. -
Michigan takes another step backward
Sep 21, 2017 | The Times Herald (USA TODAY network)
By Editorial Board
It would be difficult to imagine a more transparent politician than Bill Schuette — transparent in his motives, that is. Schuette recently made official his intention to seek the governor’s office, although cynics have read it in every action his office has taken in the past eight years. -
WECT Newst at 6pm
Sep 20, 2017 | WECT (NBC)
By Wilmington, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29526155?token=0f1ce2b9-df2e-48ea-b983-2a6534d72096 -
WIBW 13 News at 6pm
Sep 21, 2017 | WIBW (CBS)
By Topeka, KS
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29526256?token=0f1ce2b9-df2e-48ea-b983-2a6534d72096 -
WECT News Carolina in the morning at 6am
Sep 21, 2017 | WECT (NBC)
By Wilmington. NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29526281?token=0f1ce2b9-df2e-48ea-b983-2a6534d72096 -
WATN Local 24 Memphis at 5am
Sep 21, 2017 | WATN (NBC)
By Memphis, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29526574?token=0f1ce2b9-df2e-48ea-b983-2a6534d72096 -
WFVXLD 22 News at 10pm
Sep 21, 2017 | WFVXLD (Fox)
By Bangor, ME
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/29526600?token=0f1ce2b9-df2e-48ea-b983-2a6534d72096
Traditional Media Coverage
Broadcast Media Coverage
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Schuette expands opioid war with investigation into opioid manufacturers, distributors
Sep 21, 2017 | The Peninsula
By Chris Galford
As concerns over opioid abuse continue to spread state and nationwide, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced plans this week to investigate manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioid drugs.
That investigation will be in conjunction with a coalition of 41 state attorneys general, focused on gathering documents from various organizations. In particular, Endo International PLC, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Allergan Inc. and Purdue Pharma are all being actively questioned. The investigation will also look into the distribution practices of AmerisourceBergan, CardinalHealth, and McKesson, which handle nearly 90 percent of the nation’s opioid distribution.
“Highly addictive opioid drugs have destroyed families, robbed children of parents and robbed parents of children,” Schuette said. “I will be working with attorneys general from across the country, pooling our resources, and digging into the marketing, distribution, and sale of opioids. Once the information has been provided and reviewed, we will take further coordinated legal action as appropriate.”
In Michigan, the investigation has been directed to the Corporate Oversight Division. According to state figures, 1,981 Michigan residents died from drug overdoses in 2015, with opioid-related deaths quadrupling since 1999.
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ATTORNEY GENERAL JOSH STEIN TO INVESTIGATE DRUG COMPANIES
Sep 21, 2017 | WWAY
By Jenna Kurzyna
North Carolina’s Attorney General said he will launch an investigation into drug companies and their potential role in the opioid crisis.
Josh Stein made the announcement as he visited Brunswick and New Hanover counties today.
“This opioid epidemic is just tearing apart families, it’s taking lives all across North Carolina,” Stein said.
Attorney General Josh Stein has some big plans in store to continue the fight against opioid abuse.
“There is no other country in the world that prescribes anything like what we do in the United States, and there is no other country in the world that has the number with addiction and dying like we have in the United States,” Stein said.
That’s why the state’s top law enforcement officer wants to do his part fighting the epidemic by holding corporations responsible. And he has already begun.
“Doctors are obviously the ones who write the scrip, but they had been marketed too by these pharmaceuticals companies that’s what we are going to look into,” Stein said.
Stein said this is his office’s top priority, but he is not alone. 40 other attorneys general will take part in the investigation.
“If we determine that the drug manufacturers and drug wholesalers created and fueled this crisis, then I’ll hold them accountable, and that is what we are going to look into,” Stein said.
Stein said if these drug companies in anyway misconstrued how addictive these drugs could be to doctors, then they have contributed to this problem.
Stein said he works regularly with local district attorneys and this investigation is not a criminal one but a civil investigation.
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Kansas among states investigating opioid manufacturers and distributors
Sep 21, 2017 | WIBW
By Staff
Kansas is battling opioid abuse by taking part in a multi-state investigation of companies that manufacture and distribute prescription opioid drugs.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt says his office is one of 41 state attorneys general participating in the joint investigations, which began last year.
Earlier in the week, the investigation took a turn demanding information and documents from both manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioid drugs.
“Today I am taking the unusual step of announcing investigations that are ongoing,” said Schmidt, who noted that the ordinary practice of his office is to neither confirm nor deny whether an investigation exists. “Because of the unique and multi-faceted nature of prescription opioid misuse, the heightened public scrutiny and policy discussions surrounding it, the decisions by several other state attorneys general to discuss publicly their separate individual enforcement actions, the decision by our multi-state working group to publicly confirm our investigation, and the reality that public awareness of this problem is an important component in addressing it, I have concluded it is in the public interest to confirm that Kansas has been and remains part of this broad-based, bipartisan, coordinated investigation.”
Opioid overdoses kill 91 Americans everyday.
Schmidt says he would not discuss the companies who are being investigated or what his office has found so far.
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Mississippi Attorney General joins nationwide effort to push opioid alternatives
Sep 21, 2017 | The Clarion Ledger
By Therese Apel
Attorneys General all over the nation are urging health insurance companies to find ways to make non-opioid pain management more accessible for people who are currently using opioids.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said in a release Wednesday that he is joining 37 other Attorneys General in that effort with the hope of helping in the fight against the addictive drugs that are impacting lives in Mississippi by the thousands.
“Right now, many insurance companies cover opioids, which, under those plans, are not as expensive as less addictive pain medicines,” said Hood. “People shouldn’t be forced to buy opioids that will get them addicted just because it’s cheaper. The way the system is set up is literally killing people.”
General Hood, along with a bipartisan coalition of states and territories, sent a letter this week to America’s Health Insurance Plans, a national association representing the nation’s insurance companies, encouraging the use of non-opioid alternatives for treatment of chronic, non-cancer pain.
The letter urges insurers to review their coverage and payment policies in order to start a dialogue focused on incentive structures across the insurance industry. The group contends incentives that promote use of non-opioid techniques will increase the practicality of medical providers considering such treatments, including physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, chiropractic care and non-opioid medications.
The letter also encourages doctors to prescribe non-opioid medicines that can be purchased over the counter, such as ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen.
“Health insurers are in a position where they can help relieve this epidemic in our country,” said Hood. “It’s going to take compassion over profits—from the insurers to the drug manufacturers—to change the way we deal with patients’ pain.”
Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Marshall Fisher, in an editorial piece that ran in The Clarion-Ledger in July, said much of the initial opioid push revolved around the idea that it was not as addictive as it really is.
"The truth is the American pharmaceutical industry began over 20 years ago to feed our medical practitioners incomplete and inaccurate information regarding the treatment of patients with opioids. The medical community and the public were led to believe that opioids could be used like ibuprofen and acetaminophen (Advil and Tylenol) with minimal risk of developing into addiction. Big Pharma argued that the severity of the pain would somehow negate addiction," he wrote.
A study conducted by the New York Times and ProPublica analyzing Medicare prescription drug plans covering 35.7 million people found nearly all of those plans covered common opioids. Only one-third of the people covered had access to a less-risky painkilling patch. For instance, where non-addictive lidocaine patches were covered, they cost more than opioids and required prior approval from the insurance companies.
According to the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, the number of opioid prescriptions in the state makes Mississippi the fifth highest prescriber per capita in the nation, with 1.07 prescriptions per person. The letter notes the number of opioid prescriptions has quadrupled since 1999, despite Americans reporting a steady amount of pain.
Mississippi authorities have led a unified front against the opioid epidemic, striking prescription and distribution of the drugs in different ways, targeting medical professionals who illegally prescribe or embezzle the drugs, and setting up an Opioid Summit in July and continuing town hall meetings around the state to discuss challenges and solutions.
Gov. Phil Bryant issued Executive Order 1403 last month to encourage the training of law enforcement officers and first responders on how to use naloxone in order to counter an opioid overdose. It also requests that the Board of Health restrict and curtail opioid use and implement closer reporting of opioid prescriptions. It would require coroners to report opioid deaths and retrieve suspected pharmaceuticals and deliver them to law enforcement.
Hood led the nation in December 2015 by filing the first lawsuit on behalf of a state against 17 drug manufacturing companies for falsely marketing opioids as rarely addictive. Hood said the companies boosted profits by deceiving Mississippi Medicaid, doctors, and consumers at the expense of innocent victims.
"What we have been doing has never worked and it never will," Fisher said in his opinion piece. "The number of deaths have only increased in the past ten years. It is time we consider a different approach."
Additional attorneys general signing the letter: Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.
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Kansas Among States Investigating Opioid Manufacturers, Distributors
Sep 21, 2017 | KMUW
By Nadya Faulx
Kansas is among the 41 states that are working together to investigate companies that produce and distribute opioids. Deaths related to prescription opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says the first of the investigations began last year.
Schmidt didn’t specify which companies are being investigated, but New York’s attorney general says the bipartisan group has subpoenaed opioid manufacturerssuch as Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Allergan. The attorneys general have also asked for documents from the handful of companies responsible for 90 percent of opioid distribution in the country.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 150 Kansans died in 2015 of an opioid overdose, including from heroin.
Schmidt says in a statement that it’s unusual to announce an ongoing investigation, but he believes public awareness of the opioid epidemic is “an important component in addressing it.”
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Madigan Announces Investigations of More Opioid Manufacturers and Distributors
Sep 21, 2017 | Lawndale News
By Editor
Attorney General Lisa Madigan joined with a coalition of 41 attorneys general from across the country to announce their expanded investigations into manufacturers and distributors of opioid drugs. Madigan and the coalition served subpoenas requesting information from opioid manufacturers and distributors to evaluate whether these companies engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing, sale and distribution of opioids. The attorneys general served investigative subpoenas to pharmaceutical companies, including Endo, Janssen, Teva/Cephalon, Allergan and their related entities. The attorneys general also served a supplemental subpoena on Purdue Pharma. In addition to the subpoenas, the attorneys general sent letters to opioid distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson requesting documents detailing their opioid distribution businesses.
Nationwide and in Illinois, opioids – prescription and illicit – are the main driver of drug overdose deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths in 2015, including 1,339 in Illinois, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999. Among the more than 64,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in 2016, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl and synthetic opioids with over 20,000 overdose deaths. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported 1,888 opioid deaths in 2016. Rural areas have experienced increases in death rates, but the greatest total number of overdose deaths occurred in Chicago and its surrounding areas. IDPH also reported a 77 percent increase in emergency room visits and a 33 percent increase in hospitalizations related to opioid overdoses in the first three quarters of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015.
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Attorney General Announces Expansion Of Investigations Into Manufacturers & Distributors Of Opioids
Sep 21, 2017 | Levittown Now
By Amanda Burg
Pennsylvania’s attorney general visited Montgomery County Tuesday to announce a major expansion of investigations of manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro and a bipartisan group of Attorneys General disclosed new details of the progress of their coordinated investigation, which includes major opioid manufacturers like Endo International (maker of drugs like Opana and Percocet), Janssen Pharmaceuticals (makers of Duragesic, a fentanyl patch), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and its US subsidiary Cephalon Inc., (which manufactures many generic opioids and drugs such as Actiq, a fentanyl lollipop), Allergan Inc . (maker of opioids like Kadian), and Purdue Pharma, (the maker of OxyContin). The investigation has also identified opioid distributors, such as, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson.
Shapiro said during Tuesday’s press conference that he is seeking documents and information about business practices from companies responsible. The attorney generals have also served subpoenas for documents and information – known as Civil Investigative Demands – on the pharmaceutical manufacturers. The multistate investigation has also sent information demand letters to the distributors under investigation.
“To any parent, family or friend of someone lost to addiction, we hear you,” Attorney General Shapiro said at a news conference at an Upper Dublin High School athletic field in Montgomery County. “I’m announcing a major step forward in our investigation into the manufacturing, marketing, sale and distribution of opioids – a class of drugs so dangerous the Centers for Disease Control warns they are “just as addictive as heroin”.”
Nationwide and in Pennsylvania, opioids have been the main driver of fatal drug overdoses. Pennsylvania had 4,642 fatal drug overdoses in 2016 – a 37 percent increase over the year before. Thirteen Pennsylvanians die every day from overdoses; 80 percent of persons suffering from heroin addiction began by abusing prescription drugs.
“This multi-state group of attorneys general is the best public-interest law firm in America, and the attorneys in the Public Protection Division of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General are at the helm of this national investigation,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “We have the resources, expertise and legal authority to take on this fight, and we aren’t letting up. We’re following the evidence wherever it leads so we can change behavior and save lives. Make no mistake: if the law was broken, this team will find it, and we will take action to change the course of this epidemic.”
The actions represent a dramatic expansion and coordination by 41 Attorneys General into the nationwide epidemic. While some states and municipalities have taken individual legal actions, the overwhelming majority of the country’s Attorneys General, from both parties and all parts of the country, have agreed to work together to investigate the marketing distribution and sale of opioids, and to take coordinated legal action as appropriate.
“As we have shown in other cases, broad, bipartisan coalition of attorneys general can impact national problems through litigation and settlements – more effectively at times than when acting alone,” Shapiro said. “This epidemic is a national problem requiring a coordinated response to make the citizens of our states safer and to hold the appropriate parties accountable.”
Before the media, Hatboro Chief of Police James Gardner said the “pathway of addiction” is not always down dark alleyways or in the shadows. He told the story of a former detective who became addiction to opioids following a surgery and ended up losing his career and causing embarrassment to the department.
Several family members of those addicted to opioids told their story following Shapiro’s announcement.
“We’re hoping to make people aware of how dangerous [opioids] are,” said Candy Drecker, whose son passed away from an opioid overdose last year.
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Drug companies subpoenaed for multi-state opioid probe
Sep 21, 2017 | Watertown Daily Times
By Brian Molongoski
State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has joined 40 of his counterparts from across the country demanding that opioid manufacturers release information pertaining to an ongoing investigation into their practices.
New York state is part of a multi-state coalition investigating potentially illegal business practices exercised by opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The subpoenas announced Wednesday are for the opioid manufacturers Endo International PLC, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd./Cephalon Inc. and Allergan Inc, as well as a supplemental subpoena for Purdue Pharma, which produces the opiate OxyContin.
Three subpoenas were also served to three opioid distribution companies: AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, which Mr. Schneiderman said account for 90 percent of the nation’s opioid drug distribution combined, raking in $500 billion in revenues every year.
“Too often, prescription opioids are the on-ramp to addiction for millions of Americans,” said Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement. “We’re committed to getting to the bottom of a broken system that has fueled the epidemic and taken far too many lives. New Yorkers whose families have been torn apart by the opioid crisis deserve to know if the industry put its bottom line ahead of patient safety. My office is committed to using every tool at our disposal to curb the epidemic and get those affected by it the help they need and the justice they deserve.”
The multi-state coalition was formed as a means to help eradicate the ongoing opioid epidemic by targeting drug companies and their business practices.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that there were 33,091 deaths in 2015, including 2,754 in New York state.
In Jefferson County, 23 lives were lost to opiate overdoses last year, and at least 12 more people have died so far this year.
It was announced last week that $1.1 million will be given to Credo Community Center to help the non-profit fight the problem locally. Pivot will also get a $100,000 grant.
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Marshall seeking documents from opioid manufacturers
Sep 21, 2017 | The Sand Mountain Reporter
By Staff
Attorney General Steve Marshall announced he is part of a bipartisan coalition of 41 state attorneys general seeking documents and information from manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids as part of multistate investigations into the nationwide opioid epidemic.
Opioid abuse has reached a crisis level in Alabama and in many portions of the country, and earlier this year I joined with fellow attorneys general in investigating what role opioid manufacturers may have had in creating or prolonging the opioid abuse epidemic, and to establish the appropriate course of action to help solve this crisis,” Marshall said. “Our investigation continues as we seek information from drug manufacturers and distributors to help determine whether they engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing, sale, and distribution of opioids.”
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Nebraska joins multistate effort to get at the origins of the opioid crisis
Sep 21, 2017 | Nebraska Radio Network
By Brent Martin
Nebraska is joining 40 other states to investigate the origins of the national opioid crisis.
Attorney General Doug Peterson says states have been watching the actions of those in the opioid industry for years; now they want documents from manufacturers and distributors to determine if they misrepresented how addictive some pain relievers are.
Peterson says the widespread impact has been significant.
“That’s why I think it was appropriate for so many states to come together to do this multistate investigation, because this is a nationwide crisis that we’re now dealing with, with the number of overdoses and the number of addictions that have been caused,” Peterson tells Nebraska Radio Network.
How serious is this crisis?
“To the families that experience it it’s very serious, because the addiction is so intense and it destroys lives,” according to Peterson.
Peterson says the information gathered will enable the attorneys general to evaluate whether manufacturers and distributors engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing, sale, and distribution of opioids.
According to the AG office, pain relief opioids, either prescribed or illicit, are the main driver of drug overdose deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths in 2015 including 126 in Nebraska, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999.
The attorneys general served investigative subpoenas for documents and information on Endo, Janssen, Teva/Cephalon, Allergan, and their related entities, as well as a supplemental Civil Investigative Demand on Purdue Pharma.
Information demand letters have also been sent to opioid distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson, requesting documents about their opioid distribution business.
Peterson says the investigation seeks to determine if manufacturers and distributors misrepresented the effectiveness and the addictive nature of opioids.
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Commissioners formally retain law firm to sue drug companies
Sep 21, 2017 | The Times Tribune
By Jeff Hortvath
Lackawanna County Commissioners formally retained a law firm Wednesday for the county’s forthcoming legal battle against more than a dozen drug companies.
Officials announced Friday that New York-based Marc J. Bern & Partners LLP, a firm specializing in mass tort litigation, will represent the county in a soon-to-be-filed suit against 14 pharmaceutical companies for what it sees as their role in creating the opioid crisis that claimed the lives of 231county residents between 2014 and August.
Commissioners unanimously ratified a fee agreement Wednesday retaining the firm, which will represent the county at no cost. The firm, however, will collect 25 percent of whatever money the suit nets.
The county contends the pharmaceutical companies that produce opioid painkillers intentionally misrepresented the addictive nature of the drugs in marketing campaigns and misrepresented their effects to the doctors who prescribed them. It seeks to recover all county costs incurred associated with the opioid crisis.
Some residents, however, oppose the lawsuit.
“If you are going to go after the drug manufacturers, why not go (after) people who make alcoholic beverages? Why not go after the FDA?” Scranton resident Marie Schumacher asked commissioners Wednesday. “(What) ever happened to personal responsibility?”
Noting her opposition to big government, Schumacher argued against singling out the pharmaceutical industry when other industries, like big tobacco and alcohol, also produce potentially harmful products.
“I think people should use their own personal responsibility,” she said. “You take a cigarette, somebody else takes a drink. ... There’s lot of things, and picking out this one is poor.”
County solicitor John Brazil and other officials defended the lawsuit
Pharmaceutical companies failed to inform the public about the highly addictive nature of opioid pain medication, thereby preventing people from making an informed personal choice about whether to take the drugs, Brazil said.
Commissioner Laureen Cummings echoed Schumacher’s call for personal responsibility and opposition to big government, but said she still feels the pharmaceutical industry is to blame for being disingenuous about the addictive qualities of their opioid-based products.
“I do not believe in big government, but I also don’t believe in Big Pharma and I think they’ve way overstepped their bounds,” Cummings said. “As a nurse, I’m appalled.”
The lawsuit is expected to be filed at the Lackawanna County Courthouse soon. The law firm will bring in a forensic accountant to determine the amount in damages the county will seek from the drug companies, but officials expect it to be multiple millions of dollars.
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Shelby Co. Commission Considers Joining Lawsuit Against Pharmaceutical Companies Over Opioid Crisis
Sep 20, 2017 | Local Memphis
By Kim Chaney
Shelby County is considering joining a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies that sell opioids. Commissioners met Wednesday morning to discuss the opioid crisis.
An attorney spoke during the meeting to discuss the county joining a lawsuit for compensation from pharmaceutical companies because of false advertisement of opioid pills.
In Tennessee alone, the number of drug overdose deaths has risen nearly 12% since 2015.
Shelby County Commissioner Terry Roland says it's the companies' fault that so many people are dying, because of their marketing, and because they are hiking prices for the overdose solution.
Roland explained, from personal experience, why taking action against those companies is so important. "I've witnessed so many deaths here lately of good friends and their children, good friends that are my age. I mean, it's touching every age group. This opioid deal, it's an epidemic now, and we've got to stop it.
The attorney for the lawsuit says that it wouldn't cost Shelby County anything to join the lawsuit’ that the county would only pay if we won.
The next step includes an executive session with the county attorney to discuss whether or not the county will join the lawsuit
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Trump Opioid Commission Delays Final Report
Sep 20, 2017 | Pain News Network
By Pat Anson
The chairman of President Trump’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis has asked for – and apparently been granted – a one month delay in releasing the panel’s final report.
In a letter posted on the White House website, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the commission’s “research and policy development are still in progress,” and that he was extending the deadline from October 1 to November 1.
Christie said the opioid commission would hold its third public hearing September 27 at the White House. A notice published in the Federal Register indicates the meeting will focus on pain management and the diversion of opioid pain medication.
“The meeting will consist of statements to the Commission from invited government, nonprofit, and business organizations regarding Innovative Pain Management and Prevention Measures for Diversion followed by discussion of the issues raised,” the statement says. No list of attendees is included.
Christie’s letter also says the opioid commission will visit an Ohio medical center to learn about “innovative pain management strategies” and will meet in New Jersey with representatives of the pharmaceutical industry “to talk about partnership opportunities with the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.”
Until now the focus of the opioid commission has been on treating opioid addiction. An interim report released in Julyrecommends increased access to addiction treatment, mandatory education for prescribers on the risks and benefits of opioid medication, and increased efforts to detect and stop the flow of illicit fentanyl into the country. There are no specific recommendations aimed at reducing access to prescription opioids or providing different forms of pain management.
Bondi Joins Commission
Another possible sign of a shift in the commission’s direction is the recent appointment of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to the panel. Bondi is now listed as member of the commission on the White House website, althoughthere has been no official announcement by the Trump administration. She is the fifth politician appointed to the six member panel.
Bondi played a prominent in shutting down on Florida’s pill mills several years ago, but critics say she has been slow to acknowledge that the opioid crisis has shifted away from prescription painkillers to street drugs like heroin and illicit fentanyl. Many pain patients in Florida still have trouble finding pharmacies willing to fill their opioid prescriptions.
Bondi recently joined other state attorneys general in asking pharmaceutical companies for information about their marketing, production and distribution of opioids.
“Florida citizens continue to become addicted to opioids and die daily -- meanwhile, prescription drug manufacturers, distributors and the medical profession all point fingers at each other as the cause of this national crisis,” Bondi said in a statement. “This far-reaching multistate investigation is designed to get the answers we need as quickly as possible. The industry must do the right thing. If they do not, we are prepared to litigate.”
Bondi also recently joined the National Association of Attorneys General in asking the insurance industry to do more to reduce opioid prescriptions and combat opioid abuse.
“Insurance companies can play an important role in reducing opioid prescriptions and making it easier for patients to access other forms of pain management treatment. Indeed, simply asking providers to consider providing alternative treatments is impractical in the absence of a supporting incentive structure,” the attorneys general said in a letter to an insurance industry trade group.
“Insurance companies thus are in a position to make a very positive impact in the way that providers treat patients with chronic pain.”
In addition to Bondi and Christie, opioid commission members include Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Bertha Madras, PhD, a professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical School, and Patrick Kennedy, a former Rhode Island congressman.
The Trump administration has still not officially declared that the opioid crisis is a national emergency – something the President said he would do in August.
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Michigan takes another step backward
Sep 21, 2017 | The Times Herald (USA TODAY network)
By Editorial Board
It would be difficult to imagine a more transparent politician than Bill Schuette — transparent in his motives, that is. Schuette recently made official his intention to seek the governor’s office, although cynics have read it in every action his office has taken in the past eight years.
This week, his office announced it was joining a 41-state coalition intending to prove that the manufacturers and distributors of highly addictive opioid painkillers contributed to the epidemic of addiction and overdoses. Pinning the problem on a handful of pharmaceutical companies would be quite a feat, considering that everyone from doctors and patients to hospital accreditation agencies to health insurance companies to government agencies has had some role in the problem.
Democrats were immediately amused by Schuette’s new activism. They pointed out that he has received more than $67,000 in campaign donations from pharmaceutical companies. And they point out that he has been a strident defender of Michigan’s 1995 drug liability immunity law, which means even if the opioid investigation finds pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors culpable, Schuette couldn’t do anything about it. He sponsored the bill; he should know what it does.
We know about his links to the drug industry because of post-Watergate campaign finance reforms. How much money he and other Michigan candidates get from pharmaceutical firms and other industries and entities could soon be none of our business. That’s because, by the same party-line split that passed the 1995 immunity law, state Republicans have created another law that makes Michigan stand out.
Not only do we have the most far-reaching drug immunity law, we now also have the nation’s darkest black-money law. Lawmakers passed the law Tuesday, going beyond Citizens United decision to allow any entity — business, union, super PAC or other group — to spend as much as it wants to elect any candidate or pass any ballot issue, and largely avoid having to report it. Gov. Rick Snyder was quick to sign it Wednesday.
We should not have been surprised. Michigan is rock bottom when it comes to transparency, ethics and accountability in government. Why be last when you can be worse?
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Sep 20, 2017 | WECT (NBC)
By Wilmington, NC
Rough Transcript: stein opioid development-lead d "drug addiction is an equal l opportunity employoper" that's what district attorney john david said today during an opioid meeting at coastal hetorizons. we've seen it tear apart families and cause crime in our area... and.. now state leaders are looking 6:21 PMto hold those at fault accountable. wect's alex guarino followed attorney general josh stein enfrom brunswick county to wilmington today. alex what brought him to town? he was here to announce his multistate investigation into opioid manufacturers and distributors... di the state is trying to determine whether their potentially unlawful practices have contributed to the opioid crisis. stein is requesting documents in from both opioid manufacturersand distributors . he - and many other states -are investigating whether these companies engaged in the unlawful marketing, sale, and distribution of these drugs. it is possible that the manufactthurers misled doctors about the drugs' addictive qualities.di they're also looking into ki whether drug distributors were negligent in recognizing suspicious drug shipspments. if so they could be held accountable for starting and pror longing this cris. josh stein: so a group of 40 other attorneys general and me have come together to investigate the roll of the drug companies. if we determine that the drug manufactures and drug wholesalers unlawfully createdun and fueled this crisis, i'll hold them accountable. and that's what we're going to look into. this is a civil investigation as no criminal activity has yet to be discovered. if criminal ri activity is discovered, it would become a criminal case.
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Sep 21, 2017 | WIBW (CBS)
By Topeka, KS
Rough Transcript: kansas is one of 41 states hoping to end opioid abuse by investigating manufacturers and distributors... 3 attorney general derek schmidt says the state is part of a broad-based, coordinated investigation which began last year.the investigation escalated earlier this week when schmidt's office demanded information and documents from both manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioid drugs.anestimated 91 americans die every day from opioid overdoses...schmidt says he would not discuss the companies who are being investigated or what his office has found so far.
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WECT News Carolina in the morning at 6am
Sep 21, 2017 | WECT (NBC)
By Wilmington. NC
Rough Transcript: the state is also taking part in a nationwide investigation into both manufacturers and distributors of opioids to see if these companies helped fuel the drug crisis. north carolina attorney general josh stein is working with 40 other attorneys general, looking into whether the companies misled patients and doctors about the addictive nature of opioids. stein talked about the effort in brunswick county and wilmington,mi yesterday, saying this investigation is just the start of tackling a massive issue. [d22]josh stein opioid-sot 1sh attorney general josh stein: "the drug companies have made billions of dollars while millions of people have become addicted and too many people are dying. communities are struggling to deal with the consequences." stein says he's requested documents from both manufacturers and distributors -- looking into whether they neglected their duty to raise ei red flags about pharmacies' suspicious drug orders.
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Sep 21, 2017 | WATN (NBC)
By Memphis, TN
Rough Transcript: shelby county may soon join a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies that sell opioids... citing false advertising county attorneys want to join a lawsuit asking for compensation from select companies. in tennessee alone ... the number of drug overdose deaths has risen nearly 12-percent since 2015. shelby county commissioner terry roland says that spike should be blamed on the corporations making the drugs. terry roland, shelby county commission member: "i'v witnessed so many deaths here lately of good friends and their children...good friends that are my age. i mean, it's touching every age group. this opioid deal, it's to an epidemic now, and we've got to stop it." caitlin: legal reps say joining the lawsuit woulnot cost the county a dime unless they won.
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Sep 21, 2017 | WFVXLD (Fox)
By Bangor, ME
Rough Transcript: the method drug companies use to market opioid pain medicine is under investigation by the the attorneys general of 41 states, including maine. the pain medicine, oxycontin, came on the market in 1996. at that time, the manufacturer assured the medical community there was no evidence it was kely to be adctive. when in fact, we find the opposite is true. it is highly addictive, highly habit- forming. we know that people hooked on heroin and those kinds of hard drugs, three-quarters say they started with prescription drugs. mills says it's possible the drug companies used deceptive business practices, and may have violated maine's unfair trade practices act.
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