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Opioids 9/21
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Pennsylvania county sues drug companies amid opioid crisis
Sep 21, 2017 | Associated Press
Delaware County in southeastern Pennsylvania is suing 11 pharmaceutical companies and their consulting physicians for what county officials call the deceitful promotion of opioids. -
Delco files suit against drug makers, docs in opioid war
Sep 21, 2017 | Delco Times (PA)
Delaware County yesterday declared war on drug manufacturers and their doctors, filing suit against 11 suppliers of pain killers for what they claimed is their role in the opioid epidemic in the county. -
Delaware County Files Lawsuit Against Manufacturers Of Pain Killers
Sep 21, 2017 | CBS Philadelphia
Delaware County has filed a civil suit against more than half-dozen pharmaceutical companies, along with doctors, who advised those companies. -
DelCo: Declares war on opioid addiction .. sues manufacturers
Sep 21, 2017 | YC News
Delaware County announced that it has filed suit against opioid manufacturers Thursday.Delaware County, Pennsylvania’s fifth largest county, declared war on opioid addiction by becoming the first county in the state to sue for damages against 11 major drug suppliers of opioids and their consulting physicians, who have for decades conspired to deceitfully promote and market “the benefits of using opioids to treat chronic pain”.
Traditional Media Coverage
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Pennsylvania county sues drug companies amid opioid crisis
Sep 21, 2017 | Associated Press
Delaware County in southeastern Pennsylvania is suing 11 pharmaceutical companies and their consulting physicians for what county officials call the deceitful promotion of opioids.
Officials said Thursday in announcing the lawsuit that the companies have misrepresented the dangers of long-term use of the prescription painkillers, leading many unsuspecting consumers down a path of addiction and death.
The lawsuit comes amid a national opioid crisis that continues to kill tens of thousands of people each year.
Forty-one attorneys general, including Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro, say they've served subpoenas requesting information from companies that make prescription painkillers and demanded information from three distributors.
Many state and local governments have taken legal action against drugmakers in efforts to stem the crisis. Delaware County says its lawsuit is the first filed by a Pennsylvania county.
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Delco files suit against drug makers, docs in opioid war
Sep 21, 2017 | Delco Times (PA)
Delaware County yesterday declared war on drug manufacturers and their doctors, filing suit against 11 suppliers of pain killers for what they claimed is their role in the opioid epidemic in the county.
Delaware County officials held a press conference to announce the unprecedented legal filing against 11 major drug suppliers of opioids and their consulting physicians, who they claim have for decades “conspired to deceitfully promote and market the benefits of using opioids to treat chronic pain.”
“Today we are sending a message to the big pharma companies named in this lawsuit that Delaware County will not tolerate their well-documented, abusive opioid sales and marketing tactics that are systematically turning patients – including our fellow citizens – into addicts and then fatalities,” said Dave White, County Councilman and co-chair of the county’s Heroin Task Force. He was joined by District Attorney Jack Whelan, Sheriff Mary McFall Hopper and other members of County Council.
The lawsuit names the following defendants (including the three physicians that are referred to as Known Opinion Leaders (KOLs): Purdue Pharma L.P.; Purdue Pharma Inc.; The Purdue Frederick Company Inc.; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.; Cephalon, Inc.; Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc.; Endo Health Solutions Inc.; Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Dr. Perry Fine; Dr. Scott Fishman and Dr. Lynn Webster.
Whelan, who co-chairs the Heroin Task Force, added, “We will fight this national epidemic of senseless death and destruction with civil litigation, and that is why the top makers of prescription pain-killer opioids are named as defendants, along with the doctors who helped them unleash their outrageous, illegal business practices that put profits – calculated in the billions – over public safety.”
Handling the county’s case will be trial attorney Robert J. Mongeluzzi, of Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky.
“We are honored to represent Delaware County as it undertakes this courageous litigation to hold the suppliers of deadly opioids responsible for their conduct, and hold them accountable in the monetary terms they completely understand,,” Mongeluzzi said. “ Money motivates their every deceitful action and we plan to demonstrate at trial that their actions have been cold and calculated, and we will hold them accountable to appropriately compensate Delaware County – on behalf of its citizens – for the harm they’ve inflicted and continue to inflict through their business practices.”
Delaware County is the fifth largest county in Pennsylvania. It was the first in the state to set up a specific Heroin Task Force and was integral in getting the overdose-reversing drug Narcan into the hands of first responders.
So far 2017, Delaware County has had 167 drug-related deaths, with 145 of those deaths being opioid-related. The CDC estimates that 89 people die every day from an opioid-related overdose in the U.S., and Pennsylvania is among the highest incidence areas for opioid-related abuse and overdose.
White, noting that Delaware County is the third largest employer (with nearly 3,000 employees) in the county, stated, “We were the first county to recognize the need to equip police and first responders with Narcan and that action saved and is saving lives. But this lawsuit demonstrates that we have to get to the source, and that doesn’t just mean the street dealer, but the big pharma suppliers of opioids that have either skirted the law or thumbed their noses at multi-million-dollar fines. Enough is enough. Unlike those companies, the county does not have deep pockets, and we recognize that our costs – including rehabilitation services – is skyrocketing.”
Harris L. Pogust, of Pogust Braslow & Millrood, LLC, who will serve as co-counsel in the litigation, also commended the county for taking the lead among the state’s 67 counties in filing the complaint. “Officials here are acutely aware that the opioid crisis every year is costing the county lives – more than 100 so far just this year – and millions of dollars in economic impact in virtually every area of the government. None of its 49 municipalities is immune from this catastrophe that has become synonymous with the defendants’ conduct in this action.”
Mongeluzzi said his team will include Michael F. Barrett, and Carmen Belefonte, who nearly 12 years ago established – and still directs - SMBB’s Delaware County office.
Co-counsel in the litigation includes the highly acclaimed national firm of Simmons Hadly Conroy, which has frequently collaborated with SMBB and PBM on major mass tort litigation.
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Delaware County Files Lawsuit Against Manufacturers Of Pain Killers
Sep 21, 2017 | CBS Philadelphia
Delaware County has filed a civil suit against more than half-dozen pharmaceutical companies, along with doctors, who advised those companies.
“Those pharmaceutical companies have made billions of dollars off the deaths of our children and our loved ones,” said Delaware County Councilman David White.
Attorney Bob Mongeluzzi says this suit will show pharmaceuticalcompanies funded false companies like the American Pain Foundation, which…
“Created disinformation to hoodwink and convince doctors that opioids weren’t addictive,” he said.
Mongeluzzi says the result of that campaign: in 2014, 20-percent of every doctor visit resulted in a prescription of opioids.
Delaware County is the first in Pennsylvania to file suit against the drugmakers, though other states, municipalities, or counties across the country have filed.
Mongeluzzi says there is potential for class-action with a potential ending similar to the tobacco settlement.
Purdue Pharmaceuticals released the following statement in response to the lawsuit.
“While we vigorously deny the allegations, we share public officials’ concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions. OxyContin accounts for less than 2% of the opioid analgesic prescription market nationally, but we are an industry leader in the development of abuse-deterrent technology, advocating for the use of prescription drug monitoring programs and supporting access to Naloxone — all important components for combating the opioid crisis.”
Teva Pharmaceuticals says they have no comment.
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DelCo: Declares war on opioid addiction .. sues manufacturers
Sep 21, 2017 | YC News
Delaware County announced that it has filed suit against opioid manufacturers Thursday.
Delaware County, Pennsylvania’s fifth largest county, declared war on opioid addiction by becoming the first county in the state to sue for damages against 11 major drug suppliers of opioids and their consulting physicians, who have for decades conspired to deceitfully promote and market “the benefits of using opioids to treat chronic pain”.
(Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, Docket No. 17-8095)
“Today we are sending a message to the big pharma companies named in this lawsuit that Delaware County will not tolerate their well-documented, abusive opioid sales and marketing tactics that are systematically turning patients – including our fellow citizens – into addicts and then fatalities,” said Dave White, County Councilman and co-chair of the county’s Heroin Task Force.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan, who co-chairs the Heroin Task Force, added, “We will fight this national epidemic of senseless death and destruction with civil litigation, and that is why the top makers of prescription pain-killer opioids are named as defendants, along with the doctors who helped them unleash their outrageous, illegal business practices that put profits – calculated in the billions – over public safety.”
Trial attorney Robert J. Mongeluzzi, of Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky, whose firm will lead the plaintiff’s legal team, stated, “We are honored to represent Delaware County as it undertakes this courageous litigation to hold the suppliers of deadly opioids responsible for their conduct, and hold them accountable in the monetary terms they completely understand. Money motivates their every deceitful action and we plan to demonstrate at trial that their actions have been cold and calculated, and we will hold them accountable to appropriately compensate Delaware County – on behalf of its citizens – for the harm they’ve inflicted and continue to inflict through their business practices.”
Councilman White stated, “We were the first county to recognize the need to equip police and first responders with Narcan and that action saved and is saving lives. But this lawsuit demonstrates that we have to get to the source, and that doesn’t just mean the street dealer, but the big suppliers of opioids that have either skirted the law or thumbed their noses at multi-million-dollar fines. Enough is enough. Unlike those companies, the county does not have deep pockets, and we recognize that our costs – including rehabilitation services – is skyrocketing.”
So far 2017, Delaware County has had 167 drug-related deaths, with 145 of those deaths being opioid-related. The CDC estimates that 89 people die every day from an opioid-related overdose in the U.S., and Pennsylvania is among the highest incidence areas for opioid-related abuse and overdose.
The defendants (including the three physicians that are referred to as Known Opinion Leaders (KOLs) in the lawsuit, are: Purdue Pharma L.P.; Purdue Pharma, Inc.; The Purdue Frederick Company, Inc.; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.; Cephalon, Inc.; Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc.; Endo Health Solutions Inc.; Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Dr. Perry Fine; Dr. Scott Fishman and Dr. Lynn Webster.
Traditional Media Coverage
Full Text of Stories Below
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