Opioid Litigation Daily Media Report 10/27/17

Trump Public Health Emergency Declaration

1. Trump Declares Opioid Addiction a Public Health Emergency

   Oct 27, 2017 | Bloomberg

   By Margaret Talev, Jared S. Hopkins, Anna Edney
   
   
   President Donald Trump on Thursday declared widespread opioid abuse a public health emergency, even as he resisted a controversial move that might have tapped federal funds sought by hurricane-stricken Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.
2. Attorney Places Blame for Opioid Crisis on Pharma (VIDEO)

   Oct 27, 2017 | Bloomberg

   By Staff
   
   
   Video Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2017-10-27/attorney-places-blame-for-opioid-crisis-on-pharma-video Paul Hanly Jr., attorney and shareholder at Simmons Hanly Conroy, discusses President Donald Trump's declaration of opioid addiction as a public health emergency. He speaks with Bloomberg's Tom Keene on "Bloomberg Surveillance."
3. The Key Takeaways From Trump's Remarks on Opioid Crisis (VIDEO)

   Oct 26, 2017 | Bloomberg

   By Staff
   
   
   Video Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2017-10-26/catalan-on-edge-as-parliament-decides-next-moves-video Bloomberg's Kevin Cirilli recaps President Donald Trump's remarks about the U.S. opioid crisis. He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets."
4. Trump Blames Border on Opioid Epidemic

   Oct 27, 2017 | Al Dia

   By Yamily Habib
   
   
   It’s not surprising that the American president went back to look for someone to blame outside for what happens on the inside.
5. The emergency declaration was a start. Here’s how else Trump plans to combat the opioid epidemic

   Oct 27, 2017 | STAT News

   By Andrew Joseph
   
   
   President Trump’s remarks Thursday that he was directing his administration to declare the opioid epidemic a public health emergency mostly focused on the extent of the problem and highlighted in broad strokes that the country would find ways to combat the crisis.
6. Trump Declares Opioid Crisis a ‘Health Emergency’ but Requests No Funds

   Oct 26, 2017 | The New York Times

   By Julie Hirschfeld Davis
   
   
   President Trump on Thursday directed the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency, taking long-anticipated action to address a rapidly escalating epidemic of drug use.

Other Coverage

7. Lawsuits Won't Fix Opioid Epidemic, Top Drug Distributor Says

   Oct 26, 2017 | Bloomberg

   By Jared S. Hopkins
   
   
   Courtrooms aren’t the place to fix the opioid epidemic, said a top drug distributor targeted by numerous lawsuits from cities and states claiming it played a role in the crisis.
8. Insys Therapeutics’ John Kapoor charged with helping to fuel Opioid crisis

   Oct 27, 2017 | Bloomberg

   By Staff
   
   
   Insys Therapeutics Inc. founder John Kapoor is accused of helping fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic by bribing doctors to prescribe a powerful form of fentanyl to patients who didn’t need the potent drug.
9. New Jersey Files Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturer

   Oct 26, 2017 | The National Law Review

   By Martin P. Schrama & Stefanie Colella-Walsh
   
   
   Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino recently announced that New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against Insys Therapeutics, Inc. charging that the company engaged in a “greed-driven campaign of consumer fraud and submission of false claims to health insurers” to increase the market share for its opioid-fentanyl drug, Subsys
10. Buncombe County police take down an opioid trafficking ring in nursing homes

    Oct 26, 2017 | North State Journal (NC)

    By Donna King
    
    
    Nineteen health care workers have been charged in Buncombe County with a total of 61 felonies, including trafficking $72,000 in opium or heroin.
11. County Joining Class-Action Lawsuit Against Pharmaceutical Companies

    Oct 26, 2017 | Copperas Cove Leader Press (TX)

    By Brittany Fholer
    
    
    Coryell County is joining more than a dozen other Texas counties being represented in class-action lawsuits against various pharmaceutical companies that produce and distribute opioids, after the Commissioners’ Court meeting held Monday morning.
12. Cambria joins lawsuit against drug companies for opioid crisis costs

    Oct 26, 2017 | The Tribune Democrat (PA)

    By ​Jocelyn Brumbaugh
    
    
    Joining other counties across the state facing the effects of a national drug epidemic, the Cambria County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to file a lawsuit against 26 pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and distribute opioids.
13. In fight against opioid epidemic, Milwaukee Co. officials consider lawsuit against drug companies

    Oct 27, 2017 | Fox 6 Now (WI)

    By AJ Bayatpour
    
    
    As the White House declared widespread opioid addiction a nationwide health emergency, officials here said they are addressing the crisis in pharmacies and the courtroom.
14. Belmont County expands lawsuit against opioid industry

    Oct 26, 2017 | WTOV 9 Fox (OH)

    By Kate Davison
    
    
    On the heels of the president declaring the opioid crisis a national public health emergency, Belmont County is waging a battle of its own.
15. Congressman Bucshon Favors Investigation Of Drug Companies Over Opioid Crisis

    Oct 27, 2017 | 93.1FM WIBC (IN)

    By CJ Miller
    
    
    Indiana's 8th District Congressman Larry Bucshon (R) says he is in favor of a Congressional investigation into drug manufacturers and distributors to uncover what information those companies may have had about the addictive nature of prescription medicines involving opioids.
16. Door County joins lawsuit against opioid-manufacturing pharmaceutical firms

    Oct 26, 2017 | Green Bay Press Gazette

    By Staff
    
    
    Door County this week joined a growing list of Wisconsin counties participating in a nation-wide lawsuit against large pharmaceutical firms that manufacture powerful pain-killing drugs commonly referred to as opioids.
17. Gatesville: County sues drug companies to curb opioid abuse

    Oct 26, 2017 | KWTX 10 (TX)

    By Paul J. Gately
    
    
    Coryell County commissioners have hired a Dallas-area law firm to help fight opioid abuse by filing a lawsuit on behalf of the county against various manufacturers, developers and distributors of the narcotics.
18. Douglas County intends to sue drug companies

    | Duluth News Tribune (MN)

    By Shelley Nelson
    
    
    Douglas County is among a growing number of Wisconsin counties taking on pharmaceutical companies over the opioid epidemic.
19. Opioid drug makers sued by Oklahoma Attorney General

    Oct 26, 2017 | FOX Business

    By Staff
    
    
    President Trump declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency Thursday as federal agencies will now have access to more resources to combat the drug crisis and target companies that are fueling the epidemic.
20. Brick Joins Lawsuit Of Pharma Companies

    | Jersey Shore Online (NJ)

    By Judy Smestad-Nunn
    
    
    The township has joined other cities and states in filing a lawsuit against companies that manufacture opioids, and has retained the national law firm of Motley Rice, LLC who would receive no money unless they are successful in their litigation.
21. Boone Co. addresses its own opioid crisis, works collectively to combat the issue

    Oct 26, 2017 | 23 WIFR (IL)

    By Sabrina Bennett
    
    
    It's getting harder to find someone who hasn't been directly impacted by the growing opioid epidemic. Now one Stateline county is taking action and educating the community on just how bad it really is.

Broadcast Media Coverage

22. What'd You Miss?

    Oct 26, 2017 | Bloomberg (BLOOM)

    By National Programming
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30316099?token=71ea4a1d-d10a-49c9-845e-0fb1647de056

Trump Public Health Emergency Declaration

1. Trump Declares Opioid Addiction a Public Health Emergency

   Oct 27, 2017 | Bloomberg

   By Margaret Talev, Jared S. Hopkins, Anna Edney

   President Donald Trump on Thursday declared widespread opioid abuse a public health emergency, even as he resisted a controversial move that might have tapped federal funds sought by hurricane-stricken Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

   Trump also said he would use the federal government’s legal powers to pursue companies that helped fuel the epidemic.

   "We will be bringing some very major lawsuits against people and against companies that are hurting our people," Trump said in a speech at the White House on Thursday.

   Shortly before Trump spoke, federal authorities announced racketeering conspiracy and other felony charges against Insys Therapeutics Inc. founder John Kapoor and other company executives, accusing them of helping fuel the epidemic by bribing doctors to prescribe a powerful form of fentanyl to patients who didn’t need the potent drug.

   Trump’s speech and Kapoor’s arrest weighed on drug stocks Thursday. Insys sank 21 percent to $5.90 at 3:16 p.m. in New York. Other opioid makers with legal trouble also were hit: Endo International Plc, which makes a drug pulled from the market under regulatory pressure, fell 5.4 percent to $6.79, and Johnson & Johnson, one of five major drug manufacturers sued by the state of Ohio over its alleged role in the opioid epidemic, declined less than one percent to $141.58.

   Trump’s declaration follows months of debate inside and outside government over whether to use emergency funds typically reserved for hurricanes or flu epidemics to deal with a more intractable crisis; leave it for Congress to act; or pursue a combination of executive orders, emergency spending and legislation.

   “Families, communities and citizens across our country are currently dealing with the worst drug crisis in our nation’s history,” Trump said. “Addressing will require all of our effort.”

   The declaration allows for temporary appointments of specialists to crisis areas under federal grants, but it doesn’t create additional funding, three senior White House officials said on a call with reporters. Trump wants to include money for the effort in an end-of-year budget deal. To do that, the administration will need to have an “ongoing discussion” with Congress about funding, one official said.

   The opioid epidemic has emerged as one of the nation’s most pressing public health matters, claiming a life every 19 minutes, according to the U.S. Surgeon General. Cost estimates range, but a study last year in the Medical Care Journal estimated the annual economic cost of opioid overdose, abuse and dependence at $78.5 billion.

   Trump signed a memorandum calling on Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Eric Hargan to declare an emergency under the Public Health Service Act, waiving certain regulations and allowing states greater leeway in how they use federal funds to combat the epidemic, the officials said. The emergency lasts 90 days and can be renewed indefinitely.

   Trump laid out his plan in a speech Thursday at the White House. He invited recovering addicts, first responders and some lawmakers to attend. First Lady Melania Trump has also begun speaking publicly on the issue, and administration officials will hit the road Friday to visit some of the nation’s most affected areas.

   Opioid abuse has been a concern for decades but has spiraled as doctors more liberally prescribed painkillers such as oxycodone. The crisis is a tangle of issues from addiction to treatment to enforcement to regulatory policy involving drugmakers and diplomacy with other nations where opioids are manufactured.

   Several states, counties and cities have sued drugmakers and distributors, saying the companies could have done more to stop it, given their position in the drug supply chain. Unlike suits brought against tobacco makers that resulted in a $246 billion settlement in 1999, cases focusing on opioids are targeting a government-regulated product.

   "The opioid crisis is not like a natural disaster whereby it only occurs during a finite period of time and a recovery can be clearly defined," said Rafael Lemaitre, a former top spokesman at the White House Drug Policy Office and former director of public affairs at Federal Emergency Management Agency during the Obama administration. "Declaring a national emergency is not a silver bullet solution. Symbolically it’s important and it may help around the edges but at the end of the day you need a comprehensive legislative package from Congress with its own dedicated stream of funding to make a difference."

   Lemaitre said there needs to be increased regulation of the industry particularly when it comes to the wholesale shipment of prescription drugs, and the Drug Enforcement Agency needs to be empowered to go after manufacturers who break the law. Foreign policy is also important, he said, noting that much of the opioid fentanyl is coming from China. "There’s an international cooperation component here," Lemaitre said. "It’s very complicated."

   Trump said that he will raise the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “top priority” when he visits Asia next month. “And he will do something about it,” Trump said.

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2. Attorney Places Blame for Opioid Crisis on Pharma (VIDEO)

   Oct 27, 2017 | Bloomberg

   By Staff

   Video Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2017-10-27/attorney-places-blame-for-opioid-crisis-on-pharma-video

   Paul Hanly Jr., attorney and shareholder at Simmons Hanly Conroy, discusses President Donald Trump's declaration of opioid addiction as a public health emergency. He speaks with Bloomberg's Tom Keene on "Bloomberg Surveillance." 
   

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3. The Key Takeaways From Trump's Remarks on Opioid Crisis (VIDEO)

   Oct 26, 2017 | Bloomberg

   By Staff

   Video Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2017-10-26/catalan-on-edge-as-parliament-decides-next-moves-video

   Bloomberg's Kevin Cirilli recaps President Donald Trump's remarks about the U.S. opioid crisis. He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets."

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4. Trump Blames Border on Opioid Epidemic

   Oct 27, 2017 | Al Dia

   By Yamily Habib

   It’s not surprising that the American president went back to look for someone to blame outside for what happens on the inside.

   This time, and during a speech expected to know how the government will address a major health crisis in American society, the president again blamed the "south of the border" for the epidemic of opioids suffered by North America since 2010.

   "90% of the drugs that enter the country do it across the border," said the president. "For that, we will build our wall."

   Was Donald Trump confusing drug trafficking with addiction to prescription drugs?

   That seemed to be the case.

   For the sake of clarity, it is best to explain exactly what this epidemic is about.

   The so-called Opioid Crisis is a social and health phenomenon characterized by the rapid increase in the consumption of opioid drugs in the United States and Canada and was reported for the first time in 2010, date from which the figures have just kept growing.

   Opioids are a range of moderately strong analgesics, frequently used for the treatment of cancer patients and other chronic conditions. In the US market they are known by the name of OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin or Fentanyl, the latter being frequently synthesized to produce morphine and heroin.

   According to figures from the Drug Enforcement Administration(link is external), deaths from opioid overdose - which decrease the respiratory frequency and often cause respiratory arrest - have reached "critical levels ", which lead to the declaration of an epidemic.

   Between 1999 and 2008, death rates, sales and abuse of substances reported by treatment centers(link is external), increased significantly, and by 2015 the death rate for heroin overdoses exceeded death rates from traffic accidents and firearms.

   Since then, death by opioid abuse has become the most important cause in Americans younger than 50 years old.

   According to a Vox report(link is external) in July this year, opioid intoxication overdose would have killed more Americans during 2016 than the Vietnam and Iraq wars combined.

   Quoting a New York Times analysis, with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(link is external), the media estimated that between 59,000 and 65,000 people would have died from an overdose in 2016, compared to 58,200 soldiers killed in Vietnam between 1955 and 1974 and the 4,500 who died in the Iraq war since 2003, summing up only 62,700 people.

   This would imply that every ten minutes, an American dies of an overdose.A pharmacological epidemic

   The so-called Opioid Crisis began with excess prescriptions of strong analgesics during the 1990s. Since then, rates of chronic pain-related illnesses have not increased significantly, leading to the assumption that consumption is not directly related to the development of a disease in the population.

   In 2016 alone, more than 289 million prescriptions were issued for opioids, often used for "chronic pain" cases, which affected an average of 100 million US citizens.

   This exaggerated demand allowed pharmacological companies and the federal government to expand the use of opioid painkillers and to take advantage of a market that had been transformed into a gold mine.

   Between Vicodin, Oxycontin, and Percocet, the US drug industry has pocketed about $ 11 billion, only in 2010, according to a Fortune(link is external) analysis. To calculate the increase of its profits with the increase of the consumption is basic math.

   Industry giants such as Abbott Labs, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer have not only found a way to cope with the pain of diseases such as cancer, but they have also sparked a national epidemic, which is justified by their "honorable" contributions to national politics.

   According to a report in the Guardian(link is external) newspaper last October 19, drug dealers have contributed for years to political platforms, even more than any other industry. According to the media, "these companies have emptied about $ 2.5 billion in political lobbying and funding for members of Congress over the last decade."

   And to give an example: President Trump's nominee to face the war on drugs, Congressman Tom Marino, had to withdraw from the nomination for a Washington Post(link is external) report that demonstrated his participation in the pursuit of a legislation that hampered the DEA's ability to attack the irresponsible distribution of opioid analgesics by pharmacists.

   In a country where health programs are threatened by political competition - and where pharmaceuticals put the price on the most addictive products – it’s not surprising that the rates of illegal consumption of opioid drugs would also increase.

   As the report of The Economist(link is external) explains, as the price of painkillers increases and their distribution is hampered, the vulnerable population uses heroin more often, which "is cheaper and more abundant."

   In 2014, according to the report, more Americans sought treatment for heroin addiction than any other drug. In 2015, opioid deaths increased by 15% while deaths directly related to heroin increased by 23%.

   But this is also an alternative source of income for the pharmacological industry. The most frequent treatment for opioid addiction is naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of heroin(link is external), and has been since 2014 the new golden goose for the pharmacological giant Kaléo.

   A prescription dose of naloxone can cost around $ 30, which is a fortune for most addicts and makes them harder to battle their condition.A vague solution

   According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(link is external), between 2000 and 2015, deaths from heroin overdoses have reached a figure of up to 400,000 people, but deaths from abuse of opioid analgesics were almost triple.

   Likewise, according to the report, the most susceptible population is white non-Hispanic men.

   These data deny the stigmatization and direct relationship of drugs with the border or with the immigrant and the stereotype of the "trafficker" and suggest that the approach to the crisis must be from the source itself.

   The Trump Administration has authorized the declaration of a 90-day public health emergency under the Public Health Services Act, which would involve an increase in the flow of money from federal agencies to "avoid bureaucratic delays and inefficiencies in the hiring process" CNN(link is external) explained.

   The president said during his speech on Thursday that, "we will be the generation that put an end to the opioid epidemic."

   But with the cuts to public programs - contemplated in the Republican budget - and an irresolution of the replacement to Obamacare, an increase in the flow of money without a clear objective with respect to the strategies of treatment and social reintegration would mean that this epidemic seems to have come to stay.

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5. The emergency declaration was a start. Here’s how else Trump plans to combat the opioid epidemic

   Oct 27, 2017 | STAT News

   By Andrew Joseph

   President Trump’s remarks Thursday that he was directing his administration to declare the opioid epidemic a public health emergency mostly focused on the extent of the problem and highlighted in broad strokes that the country would find ways to combat the crisis.

   But Trump also laid out ways in which his administration would be attempting to combat the opioid epidemic.

   Here are a few of the steps Trump mentioned.

   President Trump’s remarks Thursday that he was directing his administration to declare the opioid epidemic a public health emergency mostly focused on the extent of the problem and highlighted in broad strokes that the country would find ways to combat the crisis.

   But Trump also laid out ways in which his administration would be attempting to combat the opioid epidemic.

   Here are a few of the steps Trump mentioned.

   Trump said that his administration would announce a new policy that would “overcome” the rule, suggesting officials would focus on granting waivers that allow states to expand treatment options.

   The Obama administration in 2015 started offering waivers that states could apply for so larger clinics get reimbursed, and at least four states have received waivers to improve access to treatment. Trump seemed to suggest that his administration’s policy would be focused on expediting the process.

   “Those approvals will come very, very fast,” Trump said.

   Changing the policy entirely — which is known as the IMD exclusion — would take congressional action.

   “While clearly overturning it may not be in the scope of what the executive branch can do, laying out a clear vision for how waivers could be used to improve the system on a state-by-state basis would be a significant and welcome improvement,” Matt Salo, the executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, wrote in an email to STAT after Trump’s address.

   There are some concerns that inpatient treatment should not always be prioritized, and that treatment in such facilities takes people out of their communities, which can provide a stable source of support for people embarking on recovery. Many advocates who favor changing Medicaid rules have also noted that Trump’s administration has backed cutting and reshaping Medicaid in a way that would lead to fewer people having coverage overall.

   Prescriber training

   Trump said he would require prescribers who work for the federal government to “receive, finally, special training” for prescribing opioids. It’s not clear what sort of education campaign Trump is envisioning, but the Obama administration in 2015 also announced a training program in opioid prescribing for prescribers who worked for the federal government.

   Pain treatment

   Federal health officials are going to launch a task force to come up with best practices for treating pain, Trump announced. This speaks to something that is often lost when discussing the opioid epidemic: There are still lots of patients who need pain medication, and there are some concerns that because of new prescribing limits and the fear of feeding addiction, they are not able to get access to them.

   Whatever best practices the task force comes up with will likely be scrutinized by advocates both for pain patients who worry about not being able to get medication they feel they need and those who support stronger prescribing limits. (At the event, Trump highlighted CVS Caremark’s recent announcement that it was imposing prescription limits for first-time opioid prescriptions.)

   ‘Bad actors’

   Trump said the federal government will “pretty soon” start suing “bad actors,” including people and companies that are “hurting our people.” He offered no specific details, but dozens of cities, counties, and states have filed lawsuits against drug makers and drug distributors for their alleged roles in seeding the opioid crisis.

   Public education

   Trump said “it’s really, really easy” not to use drugs if you never start — and suggested public education would be an important strategy for the government.

   He told the story of his brother Fred, who struggled with alcoholism and died in his 40s from complications of the disease; Fred’s life instilled in Trump the commitment to never drink and never smoke.

   But that’s also an explanation that overlooks how some people become addicted to opioids. Although the epidemic is increasingly being driven by heroin and the illicit use of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, many people developed addictions after being prescribed opioids by their doctors for legitimate pain treatment — a fact that first lady Melania Trump highlighted as she told stories of people she had met has she has learned more about the epidemic. Those people did not have a choice to, as Trump said, “not to take drugs, just not to take them.”

   Meanwhile, Trump’s opioid commission, led by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, is set to release its final recommendations on Nov. 1. Trump said he will move to implement appropriate recommendations.

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6. Trump Declares Opioid Crisis a ‘Health Emergency’ but Requests No Funds

   Oct 26, 2017 | The New York Times

   By Julie Hirschfeld Davis

   President Trump on Thursday directed the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency, taking long-anticipated action to address a rapidly escalating epidemic of drug use.

   But even as he vowed to alleviate the scourge of drug addiction and abuse that has swept the country — a priority that resonated strongly with the working-class voters who supported his presidential campaign — Mr. Trump fell short of fulfilling his promise in August to declare “a national emergency” on opioids, which would have prompted the rapid allocation of federal funding to address the issue.

   His directive does not on its own release any additional funds to deal with a drug crisis that claimed more than 59,000 lives in 2016, and the president did not request any, although his aides said he would soon do so. And he made little mention of the need for the rapid and costly expansion of medical treatment that public health specialists, including some in his own administration, argue is crucial to addressing the epidemic.

   “No part of our society — not young or old, rich or poor, urban or rural — has been spared this plague of drug addiction and this horrible, horrible situation that’s taken place with opioids,” Mr. Trump said during an elaborate and emotional ceremony in the East Room of the White House, attended by families affected by opioid abuse, members of Congress and administration officials. “This epidemic is a national health emergency.”

   To combat the epidemic, the president said the government would produce “really tough, really big, really great advertising” aimed at persuading Americans not to start using opioids in the first place, seeming to hark back to the “Just Say No” antidrug campaign led by Nancy Reagan in the 1980s.Continue reading the main storyRELATED COVERAGEA Month Has Passed Since Trump Declared an Opioid Emergency. What Next?SEPT. 10, 2017graphicDrug Deaths in America Are Rising Faster Than Ever JUNE 5, 2017Inside a Killer Drug Epidemic: A Look at America’s Opioid Crisis JAN. 6, 2017The Opioid Crisis: An Epidemic Years in the Making OCT. 26, 2017RECENT COMMENTSRussell Cook 15 minutes ago

   Maybe Trump can get Harvey Weinstein to help produce “really tough, really big, really great advertising” to win the war on opioids?Kim 16 minutes ago

   We need a healthcare system that teaches people how to manage pain and that adequately covers mental illness. We can also try to consider...Carolson 16 minutes ago

   Ah, yes, what Trump does best. Proclaim and preen and then do nothing. How exactly are we going to fight this epidemic while increasing the...SEE ALL COMMENTS WRITE A COMMENT

   “This was an idea that I had, where if we can teach young people not to take drugs,” Mr. Trump said, “it’s really, really easy not to take them.” He shared the story of his brother Fred, who he said had struggled with alcohol addiction throughout his life and implored Mr. Trump never to take a drink — advice the president said he had heeded.

   “We are going to overcome addiction in America,” the president said.

   The designation of a public health crisis, formally made by Eric D. Hargan, the acting health secretary, would allow for some grant money to be used to combat opioid abuse, permit the hiring of specialists to tackle the crisis, and expand the use of telemedicine services to treat people in rural areas ravaged by opioid use, where doctors are often in short supply.

   Mr. Trump said his plan would include a requirement that federally employed prescribers be trained in safe practices for opioid prescriptions, and a new federal initiative to develop nonaddictive painkillers, as well as intensified efforts to block shipments of fentanyl, a cheap and extremely potent synthetic opioid manufactured in China, into the United States.

   He also said he would act to suspend a rule that currently prevents Medicaid from funding many drug rehabilitation facilities.

   “We cannot allow this to continue,” Mr. Trump said. “It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction.”

   Congressional Republicans as well as law enforcement and physicians’ groups said the president’s announcement was a crucial first step in building awareness about the opioid crisis and confronting its causes and devastating effects.

   In a statement, Patrice A. Harris, the chairwoman of the American Medical Association’s opioid task force, described it as “a move that will offer needed flexibility and help direct attention to opioid-ravaged communities.”

   “There is plenty of work ahead,” Dr. Harris added, “and the emergency declaration adds further urgency to this epidemic.”

   But Democrats criticized Mr. Trump for what they characterized as a tepid response to an urgent calamity, arguing that his failure to request funding for the effort revealed a lack of seriousness about addressing the issue.

   “America is hemorrhaging lives by the day because of the opioid epidemic, but President Trump offered the country a Band-Aid when we need a tourniquet,” said Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts. “Instead of a commitment to emergency funding for our states and communities, President Trump offered empty words and half-measures.”

   Andrew Kolodny, the co-director of opioid policy research at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, said that no emergency declaration would do much to alleviate the impact of opioids without a substantial commitment of federal money and a clear strategy for overhauling the way the country treats addiction.

   “What we need is for the president to seek an appropriation from Congress, I believe in the billions, so that we can rapidly expand access for effective outpatient opioid addiction treatments,” Dr. Kolodny said in an interview. “Until those treatments are easier to access than heroin or fentanyl, overdose deaths will remain at record-high levels.”

   Mr. Trump’s campaign promise to focus on the opioid crisis helped propel him to a crucial victory in New Hampshire’s primary last year. As president, he appointed an opioid commission in March, installing Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a rival for the Republican nomination who had championed the issue during the 2016 race, as chairman.

   In July, the commission recommended that the president declare a national emergency — either under the Stafford Act, which would have allowed the allocation of Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, or the Public Health Service Act, the option Mr. Trump chose.

   Although Mr. Trump called the opioid crisis a national emergency over the next month, he did not sign a formal declaration of the designation, and the idea ran into stiff resistance in his administration to making an open-ended commitment of federal funds to deal with an issue that has shown no signs of abating.

   Administration officials argued that a national emergency declaration was not necessary or helpful in the case of the opioid crisis, and that the powers associated with a public health emergency were better suited to address the issue. They said the White House would soon send Congress a request for money to combat opioids, with the goal of including it in a year-end spending package.

   Mr. Christie praised the president on Thursday for what he called “bold action” to address the opioid crisis, and said the commission would put forth a comprehensive plan next week.

   Beyond the lack of funding, it is unclear how much impact the public health declaration will have in the short term, given that Mr. Trump has yet to name central players who would carry it out. That includes a “drug czar” to steer a broader strategy on opioids and a secretary of health and human services who would tailor policies and identify sources of funding.

   Among the questions left unanswered by the president’s announcement is whether the Department of Health and Human Services will use its authority under the public health declaration to negotiate lower prices for naloxone, a drug that quickly counteracts the effects of opioid overdoses. Lawmakers and public health and anti-addiction organizations have argued that such a measure is crucial to expand access to the drug.

   Jim Hood, a founder and the chief executive of Facing Addiction, who lost his 20-year-old son, Austin, to an accidental overdose five years to the day before Mr. Trump’s announcement, said he was grateful that the president took the time to talk about a crisis that had too often been ignored, but worried that his message missed the mark.

   “That undercurrent that if all of you just decided not to do this, we’d be in a better place — I can tell you, my son did not decide that he wanted to become addicted, much less die,” Mr. Hood said. “We might have been much better served by framing this as a very serious illness, a very serious health issue.”

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Other Coverage

7. Lawsuits Won't Fix Opioid Epidemic, Top Drug Distributor Says

   Oct 26, 2017 | Bloomberg

   By Jared S. Hopkins

   Courtrooms aren’t the place to fix the opioid epidemic, said a top drug distributor targeted by numerous lawsuits from cities and states claiming it played a role in the crisis.

   “Frankly, lawsuits from various parties and settlements don’t solve the problem,” said John Hammergren, the chief executive of McKesson Corp., in discussing quarterly results on a call with analysts Thursday. “What solves the problem is thinking in a broader context and putting the solutions in place that they can actually prevent this from happening.”

   The world’s largest drug distributor, McKesson faces claims that it played a central role in causing soaring painkiller-addiction rates and a wave of overdoses that is killing thousands of Americans each year.

   Hammergren said that the company has taken steps to help address the epidemic, including improving an internal substance abuse monitoring program. His comments came on the same day that the White House said it would declare opioid abuse a public-health emergency.

   The McKesson chief also blamed other industry players. He said that better technology could help give pharmacists “pause” before filling some prescriptions, and that physicians need to “think about the prescriptions they’re providing.”

   He disagreed with the suggestion that the epidemic will be a “tobacco overhang” for the industry, an apparent reference to a legal strategy by plaintiffs lawyers and states who have filed the lawsuits. Hammergren also said that some sources of opioids -- like heroin -- are beyond the control of the drug-supply chain. 

   “If you watch the news today they talk about you know something over borders, they talk about it being imported from other countries, and and online ordering of these kinds of drugs that are packaged in different types of packaging to avoid detection,” he said.

   McKesson has faced some shareholder pressure, including The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, for its role in the epidemic. A proposal from the union to separate the CEO and chairman roles drew the backing of 40 percent of voted shares at the company’s July 26 annual meeting. In response, the board said that it will split the jobs.

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8. Insys Therapeutics’ John Kapoor charged with helping to fuel Opioid crisis

   Oct 27, 2017 | Bloomberg

   By Staff

   Insys Therapeutics Inc. founder John Kapoor is accused of helping fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic by bribing doctors to prescribe a powerful form of fentanyl to patients who didn’t need the potent drug.

   Kapoor, 74, was arrested Thursday in Arizona and charged with racketeering conspiracy and other felonies. He’s scheduled to appear in a Phoenix court later in the day.

   Kapoor and other former Insys executives are also accused of defrauding insurance companies that were reluctant to approve payments for the drug by improperly getting prior authorization directly from the insurers and pharmacy benefit managers, Acting U.S. Attorney William Weinreb in Boston said in a press release.

   “Insys executives improperly influenced health care providers to prescribe a powerful opioid for patients who did not need it,” Mark McCormack, an FDA agent, said in the statement.

   The opioid epidemic is killing 175 people a day and costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars annually, according to the government. President Donald Trump plans to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency on Thursday.

   The Insys executives are accused of bribing doctors to prescribe Subsys, a fentanyl-based spray designed to combat cancer-sufferers’ pain, to people who didn’t have cancer.

   Joe McGrath, an Insys spokesman, said he couldn’t immediately comment on Kapoor’s indictment. The company has reportedly been in settlement talks with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve a probe into its Subsys marketing. The company’s shares fell more than 12 percent to $6.49 in Nasdaq trading at 1:48 p.m.

   Brian Kelly, Kapoor’s Boston-based defense attorney, didn’t immediately return a call for comment about his client’s indictment on Thursday.

   The Lawyer Who Beat Big Tobacco Takes On the Opioid Industry

   Kapoor stepped down as Insys’s CEO and chairman in January, about a month after prosecutors indicted the former employees in the bribery probe. Those charged included ex-CEO Michael Babich and former national sales director Richard Simon.

   Some lower-level Insys employees have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors. Elizabeth Gurrieri, a former manager who oversaw insurance reimbursements, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud in June.

   Kapoor is also the chairman and largest shareholder of Akorn Inc., which has been acquired by German health-care provider Fresenius SE for $4.3 billion in April.

   Kapoor’s arrest “has no impact on the Akorn transaction,” Matt Kuhn, a spokesman for Fresenius, said in an email. A representative for Akorn didn’t return calls and emails seeking comment.

   The U.S. Attorney in Connecticut is conducting a criminal probe of Purdue Pharmaceutical Inc.’s marketing of OxyContin. Scores of cities and counties, as well as states, have sued companies including Purdue, Endo International Plc, and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals, alleging that they triggered the epidemic by minimizing the addiction and overdose risks of painkillers such as OxyContin and Percocet.

   The case is U.S. v. Babich, 16-cr-10343, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).

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9. New Jersey Files Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturer

   Oct 26, 2017 | The National Law Review

   By Martin P. Schrama & Stefanie Colella-Walsh

   Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino recently announced that New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against Insys Therapeutics, Inc. charging that the company engaged in a “greed-driven campaign of consumer fraud and submission of false claims to health insurers” to increase the market share for its opioid-fentanyl drug, Subsys.What Does New Jersey’s Opioid Lawsuit Claim?

   The complaint asserts that Subsys has Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval only for the treatment of opioid-tolerant cancer pain, yet Insys unlawfully directed its sales people to “push Subsys for prescription to a broader patient population – patients suffering any type of chronic pain – and at higher doses.” The state’s lawsuit alleges that corporate decision-makers sought to expand the limited market for Subsys by aggressively pushing “off label” uses of the drug.

   Based on independent medical judgment, physicians are permitted to legally prescribe drugs for off-label use. However, drug companies are prohibited from promoting drugs for off-label use in an untruthful or misleading way. Drug companies also cannot influence a physician’s prescription decisions by offering payments or other benefits.

   The lawsuit further alleges that Insys repeatedly misled health insurance plans and pharmaceutical benefits managers to obtain coverage for Subsys prescriptions.

   According to the complaint, since its launch in 2012, Subsys has accounted for approximately 98 percent of net revenues for Insys. Insys sold $74.2 million worth of Subsys in New Jersey between 2012 and the third-quarter of 2016.

   The complaint seeks injunctive relief and other relief pursuant to the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act for the harm that Insys’s conduct caused New Jersey’s residents. The Attorney General also seeks relief under the New Jersey False Claims Act for the financial harm to the state. The complaint also notes that New Jersey state employee health benefits plans paid approximately $10.3 million to reimburse Subsys prescriptions between 2012 and the third-quarter of 2016. The State Worker’s Compensation Program paid another $300,000.What Harm Has the Expansion of Opioid Prescription Use Caused New Jersey Residents?

   The complaint alleges that Insys’s conduct has put hundreds of lives in jeopardy and “led to the death of at least one New Jersey resident,” who allegedly was prescribed Subsys for fibromyalgia.

   According to the lawsuit, more than 840 people in New Jersey died from heroin or opioid abuse in 2010. Further, the confirmed heroin/opioid death toll in New Jersey jumped to more than 1,000 in the first half of 2016. Concurrently, according to the complaint, the number of people admitted to state-licensed or certified substance abuse treatment programs in New Jersey due to abuse of heroin or other opiates increased from approximately 33,000 in 2012 to more than 38,000 in 2016.

   The complaint adds that, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 80 percent of new heroin users reported that their addictions began by misusing prescription pain medications. It also notes that opiate-related deaths in the U.S. have more than quadrupled since 1999, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.What Other Actions are Being Taken to Fight the Opioid Epidemic?

   The pharmaceutical industry already faces dozens of lawsuits brought by cities, counties, and states — including Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Newark, New Jersey, Missouri, and Ohio. The defendants include opioid manufacturers such as Purdue Pharma and Teva Pharmaceuticals, and distributors such as Cardinal Health, among others. The lawsuits seek to hold the manufacturers and distributors accountable for the harm caused by dangerously addictive opioid drugs, including Oxycodone and hydrocodone. The complaints allege negligence and claim that aggressive sales tactics expanded the market for opioids even as the addictive properties were well-known. The lawsuits assert that drug manufacturers failed to disclose that opioid pain killers are addictive in their marketing strategies targeted toward doctors and patients. The state and local governments claim they have been left to struggle with the high costs incurred due to the opioid public health crisis.

   In addition, the attorneys general of 41 U.S. states have banded together to investigate the makers and distributors of opioid painkillers. A press release indicates that subpoenas have been issued seeking information from opioid manufacturers Endo International, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Allergan, as well as additional subpoenas to Purdue Pharma. The coalition is also demanding documents from distribution companies AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson.

   
   

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10. Buncombe County police take down an opioid trafficking ring in nursing homes

    Oct 26, 2017 | North State Journal (NC)

    By Donna King

    Nineteen health care workers have been charged in Buncombe County with a total of 61 felonies, including trafficking $72,000 in opium or heroin.

    The arrests come after a six-month anti-opioid abuse project called Operation Bad Medicine. The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office along with the Buncombe County Anti-Crime Task Force worked to target health care workers who they allege were illegally diverting opioid prescription pain medication from area health care, nursing and assisted living facilities throughout the county.

    Police allege that those charged were trafficking illegally obtained opioid prescription medication in amounts too large for one individual to consume and in too short of a time. Investigators say it indicates that the traffickers were illegally selling the opioids.

    In total, police records show that 13,151 dosage units of opioids, 383 dosage units of amphetamines, and 120 dosage units of benzodiazepines with a street value of nearly $72,000 were allegedly illegally obtained by the defendants.

    Those charged include: Payal A. Patel, Samantha Gail Hannah, Matthew Allen Adair, Benjamin Russell Seagle, Tara McDonald Watkins, Kara Kimberly Glenn, Irvin Vance Keys Jr., Walter Fleming Wade IV, Kelly Shane Whitson, Jennifer Denise Morgan, Majorie Katherine Aultman, Dustin Andrew Walden, Candy Ray Walden, William Joseph Brooks, Zhanna Nickolaevna Balvk, Elva Denise Silvers, Brandon Alexander Freeman, Holly Mae Pruitt and Harold Grant Utz.

    The charges of trafficking in opium or heroin are in three levels, depending on how much of the drugs was found. Minimum mandatory sentences range from 70 months for between four and 14 grams, to level three felony, which is 225 months in prison for more than 28 grams. Additional fines ranging from $50,000 to $500,000.

    Last month N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein announced that he is seeking documents from manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids as part of an investigation into whether manufacturers and distributors are using illegal practices in their marketing and distribution of prescription opioids.

    Stein said the Department of Justice is investigating opioid manufacturers Endo, Janssen, Teva/Cephalon, Allergan and Purdue Pharma. They have also requested documents from opioid distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson.

    In N.C. drug overdoses are the No. 1 cause of accidental death, topping car accidents for the first time. The N.C. Department of Justice estimates that nearly four people die each day from accidental drug overdose in N.C.

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11. County Joining Class-Action Lawsuit Against Pharmaceutical Companies

    Oct 26, 2017 | Copperas Cove Leader Press (TX)

    By Brittany Fholer

    Coryell County is joining more than a dozen other Texas counties being represented in class-action lawsuits against various pharmaceutical companies that produce and distribute opioids, after the Commissioners’ Court meeting held Monday morning. 

    The commissioners approved Coryell County Resolution No. 2017-14 which gave approval for bringing a class-action suit on behalf of Coryell County against various drug manufacturers, developers, suppliers and others of pharmaceutical drugs known as opioids and approval of a professional services agreement for special counsel. 

    The county will be represented by major litigators Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett, based in Dallas, who will be working with lawyers from Cappolino, Dodd and Krebbs of Cameron and Temple, on a contingency fee structure basis, with no additional cost to the county. 

    The companies which the claims will be made against include but are not limited to Purdue Pharma, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Johnson & Johnson.

    Craig Brown and Valerie Farwell, with Cappolino, Dodd and Krebbs, shared information on the problem of opioids and what the lawsuit will do. 

    “These drugs have been around for a long time,” Brown said. “What changed wasn’t the drug.  What changed was the way they’re marketed and prescribed.”

    There was a shift from prescribing certain opioids for acute, post-surgical or end of life scenarios to chronic pain scenarios, many of which had never been used for chronic pain before, due to people hired by the companies to market the drugs this way to doctors, Brown said.

    “There were 289 million scripts written for opioids last year, so enough for all of us to have a bottle. Clearly the math just doesn’t work out on how much is being prescribed,” Brown said. “So what we’re trying to do is somewhat similar to the tobacco litigation and by that I mean, we’re trying to recoup costs for law enforcement.”

    The opioid abuse problem leads to a drain on public finances in dealing with the problem through law enforcement, child protective services and indigent health services, among others, Brown said. 
    The lead counsel firm, Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett, have won more than $296 million in verdicts since 2006, according to Farwell. 

    “They are excellent when they go to trial. They have no problem taking on the big guys, doesn’t phase them one bit,” Farwell said. 

    Coryell County attorney Brandon Belt said he had looked over the agreement and found nothing amiss. Belt stressed that it would take a big firm, such as SGPB, to tackle the big pharmaceutical companies. 

    “You sue the big pharmaceutical company, they will be parachuting lawyers in to fight you because they’re making millions of dollars peddling these pills all over the United States,” Belt said.

    The number of prescriptions compared to the number of people in the country doesn’t add up, Belt said. The companies have created a problem of people overdosing on the pills or selling them, and many people with a prescription don’t even use them, they just sell them, Belt added. 

    “It’s definitely something that needs to be addressed and folks like their firm are the only ones that are capable of addressing it,” Belt said. “It takes a big firm with lots of resources and lots of lawyers to deal with these things.”

    The commissioners also approved the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office to receive a donation of a K-9 valued at $15,000 from Rocky Smith of K-9 Officers Inc, which Commissioner Kyle Matthews, Precinct 1, said would be a great value to reducing drug crime in the county. 

    Sheriff Scott Williams said that a large percentage of the crimes they respond to are drug-related in some way. Before the current K-9 of the Sheriff’s Office, it had been 10 years since they had had a narcotics dog, Williams said. 

    With the one K-9, the dog is very busy, with four-day coverage one week and three-day coverage the next week.

    With the addition of another dog, they would have seven-day coverage, he added. 

    The commissioners also approved approve the Health Services Agreement for the management of inmate medical needs at the County Jail, renewing the contract with Southern Health Partners, which will have a three percent increase, raising the base annualized fee to $162,208.08.

    The commissioners also approved FY 2018 Fire Fighting Agreements between Coryell County and the city of Copperas Cove as well as the volunteer fire departments in the county.
    

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12. Cambria joins lawsuit against drug companies for opioid crisis costs

    Oct 26, 2017 | The Tribune Democrat (PA)

    By ​Jocelyn Brumbaugh

    Joining other counties across the state facing the effects of a national drug epidemic, the Cambria County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to file a lawsuit against 26 pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and distribute opioids. 

    During a regular meeting held at the Nanty Glo Food Pantry warehouse, the commissioners approved an agreement with Robert Pierce & Associates and Marc J. Bern & Partners to represent the county in the litigation.

    County Solicitor Bill Barbin said attorneys with these firms will work with county officials to determine the costs incurred while combating drug use, overdoses and deaths.

    “The county has spent a lot of money as a result of the opioid crisis,” Barbin said. 

    “(The county coroner’s budget) has gone up dramatically every year” over the past few years for autopsies and additional staffing, added Commissioner Mark Wissinger. 

    The same attorneys are representing Beaver County in an identical suit and are working with Fayette and Westmoreland counties, Barbin added. 

    The county will not be responsible for any costs or attorneys’ fees until the lawsuit is concluded, Barbin said. If the lawsuit is successful, the county would dedicate 25 percent of any settlements to its legal representation. 

    President Commissioner Tom Chernisky said Delaware and Lackawanna counties also have filed similar lawsuits.

    “This suit is not only to help counties for economic loss, but to put pharmaceutical companies on notice that they must change the way they do business,” he said. 

    “Companies have misrepresented the dangers of long-term use of prescription painkillers, leading many unsuspecting consumers down a path of addiction and death,” Chernisky said.

    Cambria County will be able to document money spent on emergency responses, overtime, autopsies and other costs associated to the opioid epidemic, Chernisky added. 

    The commissioners’ decision came on the same day that President Donald Trump announced that he would declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency and months after state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced that he would join a nationwide investigation looking at whether opioid manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in marketing and selling opioid painkillers. 

    The commissioners also unanimously approved a $34,000 contract with Mission Critical Partners to perform a network and radio communication assessment at its 911 center. 

    Robbin Melnyk, deputy director for the county’s emergency services department and its 911 coordinator, said the assessment will help county officials determine the best way to spend taxpayer money in order to correct issues with the radio network used by first responders. 

    “We don’t want equipment to stop working before we have a plan of what we’re going to do,” she said. 

    “It’s critical to ensure the county emergency radio system is operational for our first responders.” 

    Chernisky noted that there have been reports of difficulty in communication during rainstorms and that this assessment will include the evaluation of equipment and overall system infrastructure to find the cause of this type of problem.

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13. In fight against opioid epidemic, Milwaukee Co. officials consider lawsuit against drug companies

    Oct 27, 2017 | Fox 6 Now (WI)

    By AJ Bayatpour

    As the White House declared widespread opioid addiction a nationwide health emergency, officials here said they are addressing the crisis in pharmacies and the courtroom.

    A group of elected officials and health professionals unveiled Thursday a new drop box for unused prescription drugs at the Hayat Pharmacy near 53rd and Burleigh. Speakers said their goal is to get them in every neighborhood. Meanwhile, Milwaukee County's corporation counsel is pursuing a lawsuit against the companies that make many of those pills.

    Officials said they want to eventually see the prescription drug drop-off boxes at neighborhood pharmacies throughout the city. They say the opioid crisis is worsening here.

    "If we can't find a way to deal with this, we'll end up with more dead bodies or incarcerating thousands of people," said Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel Margaret Daun.

    Daun wants to sue the some of the country's largest opioid makers and distributors. A number of local governments across the country have filed such suits. Daun mentioned litigation in Chicago, Suffolk County, NY, and Santa Clara County, CA, which settled with one manufacturer earlier this year.

    "We are experiencing at the county, through the different services we provide, a very significant uptick in costs that are related to opioid usages," Daun said.

    This is the fourth straight year Milwaukee County has recorded more than 100 heroin-related deaths. In 2012, there were 53. The increase is even more drastic with fentanyl. So far this year, the medical examiner's office said it has contributed to 144 deaths. That surpasses last year's record high of 97. In 2015, there were 30. This year, in fact, there have been more deaths associated with fentanyl than heroin (131) in the county - the first time that's happened.

    Overall, there have been more than 300 suspected drug overdose deaths this year. Billboards throughout Milwaukee County display the total; the 306 number not taking into account the latest drug-related death. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office said a 32-year-old Brown Deer woman was found dead Wednesday night in the bathroom of the McDonald's at 25th and National. A syringe was found in her coat.

    "They knew this was an addictive drug and I think they willfully made a lot of money off of it," said Milwaukee Alderman Michael Murphy.

    Alderman Murphy said the city is considering joining a lawsuit with the county or filing one itself. Dr. Chip Morris, the past president of the Medical Society of Milwaukee County, also spoke at Thursday's event and said physicians were lied to and trusted evidence that proved to be unreliable.

    "They said they were safe and they were safe for chronic use and we now know that is absolutely not true," said Dr. Morris.

    When asked how a field of highly-educated medical professionals did not recognize the problems earlier, Morris said early studies claiming low risk of addiction were convincing.

    "What we were provided with was medical evidence that showed people did not have a tendency to continue to take these medications after their prescribed length of time," Morris said.

    Daun pointed to evidence filed in the Suffolk County, NY lawsuit alleging some of the doctors who wrote studies supporting the drugs were getting money from the pill makers.

    "Some are guilty but we're all responsible," said Morris.

    The county board's Judiciary Committee approved the lawsuit last week. It still needs the support of the full board. Daun said outside lawyers will only get paid if the county is awarded money in the lawsuit.

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14. Belmont County expands lawsuit against opioid industry

    Oct 26, 2017 | WTOV 9 Fox (OH)

    By Kate Davison

    On the heels of the president declaring the opioid crisis a national public health emergency, Belmont County is waging a battle of its own.

    The county's top leaders allege that opioid distributers should have been monitoring the number of pills being issued to patients, and then reported any increases in opioid numbers to federal agencies.

    The county is trying to recoup its financial losses tied into the national opioid epidemic.

    "The overcrowding at the Belmont County Jail for this entire year, going back to 2016, is a direct result of the increased drug arrests that are happening within the county,” Commissioner Mark Thomas said.

    “Belmont county definitely has an opioid crisis."

    Several months ago, the county entered into a lawsuit to sue opioid distributors, and at the judge's request, the lawsuit has now been expanded.

    "The litigation currently involves all of the distributors,” Belmont County Prosecutor Dan Fry said. “There's a limited number of licensees who were allowed to distribute these things in the first place. We've now amended the complaint, or are in the process of amending the complaint, to name the manufacturers of those pills."

    And while Belmont County is alone in its legal dispute, there are other government jurisdictions throughout Ohio bringing similar cases.

    "It's going to be a long proactive, protracted case over many years, but we felt at the recommendation of our prosecutor that this is something that we absolutely need to do," Thomas said.

    "If we are successful, we will put together a plan that would be presented to the court as best we can all of the costs -- direct and indirect -- associated with law enforcement, social agencies, everybody involved having to deal with this crisis that's been thrust upon us," Fry said.

    The litigation is still in its infancy stages. No decision is expected in the near future.

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15. Congressman Bucshon Favors Investigation Of Drug Companies Over Opioid Crisis

    Oct 27, 2017 | 93.1FM WIBC (IN)

    By CJ Miller

    Indiana's 8th District Congressman Larry Bucshon (R) says he is in favor of a Congressional investigation into drug manufacturers and distributors to uncover what information those companies may have had about the addictive nature of prescription medicines involving opioids.

    In an interview with 93 WIBC’s Abdul Hakim-Shabazz, Rep. Bucshon says he would like to know what those companies may have known about opioids and if they could have done anything to prevent those who have been prescribed those medications from becoming addicts to other similar drugs, such as heroin.

    "Congress is concerned about it and I think it does warrant an investigation.  [We want to] get the facts and see what is known about the addictive nature of these medications," says Rep. Bucshon, who is also a medical doctor.

    Congressman Bucshon says one of his main concerns with opioids is the death toll it is taking across the country.

    "More people are dying from the opioid crisis than from violence and accidents combined," according to Rep. Bucshon.  The American Association of Addictive Medicine says more than 52,000 died of accidental opioid overdoses in 2015.

    "This is a crisis that affects all socio-economic classes. It [also] crosses racial lines [and] age lines.  This is really a broad-based problem that we are seeing in our country," says Congressman Bucshon, who says there is a shortage of doctors, nurses and counselors who are available to closely monitor those who are prescribed opioid medication to manage pain.

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16. Door County joins lawsuit against opioid-manufacturing pharmaceutical firms

    Oct 26, 2017 | Green Bay Press Gazette

    By Staff

    Door County this week joined a growing list of Wisconsin counties participating in a nation-wide lawsuit against large pharmaceutical firms that manufacture powerful pain-killing drugs commonly referred to as opioids.

    Door County Corporation Counsel Grant Thomas told the County Board Tuesday, “This came up in a public sense at the Wisconsin Counties Association meeting a few weeks ago. In brief, the point of the opioid litigation is to allow the counties — in our case, Door County — an opportunity to recover the funds expended on the opioid crisis by county programs and services.”

    The lawsuit is not a class-action effort, Thomas said. Attorneys learned to pursue a different method after local governments received none of the money from a multi-billion dollar settlement against tobacco manufacturers ten-years ago.

    “It all went to the states,” Thomas said. “In theory, that sounds like a simple concept. I can assure you that it is not. We need to establish that we have a right to recover. And that's one of the cons of this. There's really no monetary risk to the county, but that's a bit of a misnomer, because the county has to prove its damages. 

    “That's going to require my office and a number of the departments — Human Services Department; Sheriff's Department; our Medical Examiner; the courts and a few others — to sift through the records and come up with costs that directly relate to the negative impact of the opioid situation that we face. We won't know what those damages are until we get into that process.”

    The actual lawsuit involves no legal costs for the county.

    “There's no attorney fees and (the) law firms that are going to be representing the county will absorb all the costs,” Thomas said. “If there is a recovery, then the attorneys get paid their fees and out of pocket expenses, and what remains of the settlement will be distributed to the clients.”

    The downside, Thomas said that “if we don't participate and go forward, you're not going to see any recovery." 

    “There are no guarantees that any money will be paid," he said, "but if you don't join in the lawsuit, we can be guaranteed we won't participate in any recovery that occurs.”

    County Supervisor Richard Virlee, a Vietnam veteran and retired Door County Sheriff's Deputy, said he favors the lawsuit.

    “This is an epidemic and what's alarming to me is the numbers, Virlee said. “In 2016 — a 12 month period — there were 64 thousand deaths in America related to this. To realize how many people we're talking about, the Vietnam War lasted 10-years — 10-years — and there were 58-thousand deaths. This is something that has to be dealt with."

    Thomas agreed, saying: “It's not only the money that's involved, it putting a stop to it.”

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17. Gatesville: County sues drug companies to curb opioid abuse

    Oct 26, 2017 | KWTX 10 (TX)

    By Paul J. Gately

    Coryell County commissioners have hired a Dallas-area law firm to help fight opioid abuse by filing a lawsuit on behalf of the county against various manufacturers, developers and distributors of the narcotics.

    The Central Texas county joins 14 others that have signed on with Simon, Greenstone, Panatier and Bartlett as part of a professional services agreement after commissioners unanimously approved the move this week, County Judge John Firth said.

    The agreement places Coryell County at the forefront of the fight against opioid abuse in Central Texas as the first governmental entity to openly admit unfettered use of opioids is a problem.

    The move is an effort to recover funds expended for law enforcement, child protective services, county employee prescriptions and other issues associated with use of opioids.

    "Hopefully this will provide some relief, similar to the asbestos and tobacco lawsuit in the past," Coryell County Attorney Brandon Belt said.

    He said the Dallas firm already has done a great deal of research and has taken similar cases to courts in other states.

    Lawyers with the Waco firm Cappolino|Dodd|Krebs, LLC, already have filed the first similar lawsuit in Texas.

    Craig Brown, with the Waco firm, has said in spite of the fact the class of drugs has been around for many years, but new marketing techniques have spurred a huge rise in opioid use.

    The agreement calls for the Dallas firm to recover a portion of the proceeds of the lawsuit not to exceed 33.3 percent, adding the county must cover any "reasonable and necessary cost of litigation."

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18. Douglas County intends to sue drug companies

    | Duluth News Tribune (MN)

    By Shelley Nelson

    Douglas County is among a growing number of Wisconsin counties taking on pharmaceutical companies over the opioid epidemic.

    The County Board last week approved signing a letter of engagement with counsel in relation to claims against opioid manufacturers because of the rapid rise in problems stemming from the use, abuse and overuse of opioid medications. The motion was amended to record the decision had the support of the full board.

    Societal costs of opioid abuse are about $75 billion annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 1999, the number of overdose deaths has quadrupled.

    The idea of legal action was pushed by the Wisconsin Counties Association during a conference in late September, Douglas County Board Chairman Mark Liebaert said. After the conference, county officials asked Corporation Counsel Carolyn Pierce to take a look at it to determine whether the county should participate, Liebaert said.

    Pierce drafted a list of pros, cons and unknowns the county would face if it proceeds with legal action. She cautiously recommended that it is something the county would have to sign onto if it's going to recover any costs from the lawsuit.

    "A lot of it is unknown at this point," Pierce said. "They can't really tell us how much we're looking at in terms of recovery. We're really at the investigation point where the county is going to have to come up with damages."

    Among the risks is that the lawyers for the pharmaceutical companies could bury the county in paperwork, which would increase staffing costs, Liebaert said.

    "At some point, the sheriff's office, health and human services, or some other agencies, will have to put in a lot of work to prove our claim," Liebaert said.

    Pierce said attorneys involved in the lawsuit would assist with the discovery process. They would be paid on a contingency basis.

    "Whether or not there is going to be a big pot of gold at the end remains to be seen," Pierce said. But, she said, the county has no chance to recover its costs if it doesn't participate.

    Several Wisconsin counties, including Eau Claire, Sauk, Marathon, Columbia and Grant, have already approved joining the lawsuit, according to news reports. The Wisconsin Counties Association hopes 60 to 70 of Wisconsin's 72 counties join in the lawsuit.

    Liebaert likened the potential lawsuit to the one states won against tobacco companies about two decades ago. Then, the settlement received by the state wasn't shared with counties. Wisconsin's share of the settlement was largely used to patch holes in the state budget.

    "This is obviously not a sure thing, but we do have costs from this opioid addiction," Liebaert said.

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19. Opioid drug makers sued by Oklahoma Attorney General

    Oct 26, 2017 | FOX Business

    By Staff

    President Trump declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency Thursday as federal agencies will now have access to more resources to combat the drug crisis and target companies that are fueling the epidemic.

    "We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic," Trump said at a White House ceremony.

    Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter is suing multiple pharmaceutical companies for misrepresenting the risks of opioid painkillers.

    “Those manufacturers have been systematically defrauding and misrepresenting the addictive qualities of opioids for the last two decades. They’ve spent millions of dollars to accomplish this,” Hunter told FOX Business’ Charles Payne in an exclusive interview.

    The attorney general said he will hold both doctors and manufacturers responsible for understating the addictive risks of opioid painkillers and overstating the treatment benefits.

    “We’re confident that those manufacturers are responsible for billions of dollars in Oklahoma taxes going to healthcare, to corrections, to law enforcement, and we are going to hold them accountable,” he said.

    Hunter said the state of Oklahoma is collaborating with the medical community to develop framework on how to stem the crisis.

    “There are opportunities with e-prescriptions, so we are getting away from fraudulent paper prescriptions, getting a tougher prescription moderating program,” he said.

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20. Brick Joins Lawsuit Of Pharma Companies

    | Jersey Shore Online (NJ)

    By Judy Smestad-Nunn

    The township has joined other cities and states in filing a lawsuit against companies that manufacture opioids, and has retained the national law firm of Motley Rice, LLC who would receive no money unless they are successful in their litigation.

    During a recent council meeting, Mayor John G. Ducey said the grounds for a lawsuit is based on the opioid manufacturers’ claims to patients and medical providers that OxyContin was not addictive since it was a pill, and that only injectable or sniff-able drugs could become addictive.

    “So they said don’t worry, these are pills,” Ducey said. “That’s the way they got the OxyContin out to the various doctors and patients, and everyone was requesting it, and doctors were asking for more. People were addicted to it, and the advice from the pharmaceutical companies was basically just increase the dosage to your patients and that will help the problem,” Ducey said.

    When prescriptions ran out and people could no longer get the OxyContin legally, some would pay $30 to $40 for one pill on the street, so many turned to heroin, which only cost $3 to $4 for an even stronger high.

    Motley Rice, LLC would receive no payment from Brick of any kind, but would get 25 percent of any settlement monies while the township would receive 75 percent, Ducey said.

    “We want to hold the manufacturers of these opioids accountable for telling doctors and patients that opioids are not addictive. They know it’s not true,” he said.

    There were 92 drug overdoses in Brick this year, which is a decrease from last year, Ducey said. The overdoses include Narcan revives, people brought to the hospital, and some deaths.

    Councilwoman Marianna Pontoriero noted that Motley Rice, LLC has a vested interest in winning the lawsuit, “otherwise they get nothing,” she said.

    Township Attorney Kevin Starkey called Motley Rice “a very aggressive and very creative law firm. They have had great success. They took the lead in suing tobacco companies back in the 90s and they also have an ongoing lawsuit representing 9/11 victims against some foreign governments. They are very knowledgeable,” he said.

    The firm asked Brick Township to put together a damages report, or what the opioid crisis has cost the town in hard numbers.

    Ducey said the damages include the cost of police detectives and regular police officers, investigation costs, Narcan revivals, the actual Narcan costs, the police and EMS training, hospital transport for overdose victims, and education for DARE officers.

    “It’s everything you can think of as far as what’s related to the heroin and opioid problem here in Brick Township,” the mayor said. “These are the damages we are seeking for partially being responsible for the problem.”

    It is very important that the township be the plaintiff so it has control over the lawsuit, Ducey added.

    The township gets to choose the law firm it wants, and if Brick is not listed as the plaintiff, the township could be lumped into a class-action lawsuit with the bulk of the judgement going to lawyer fees, he said.

    “When we get the funds, whatever those funds are, we want to keep on attacking the epidemic, and that’s where we want the money to go, that’s what it’s for,” Ducey said.

    Councilwoman and BMAC Chair Andrea Zapcic said that OxyContin was the first 12-hour sustained relief pain pill on the market.

    “The only problem was that it didn’t last 12 hours, and Purdue Pharma knew that,” she said.

    When doctors started to complain about their patients not getting 12 hours of relief, the sales reps were told to go back to the doctors and tell them to “double down” and increase the dosage, but insurance companies were balking at the increased cost, she said.

    The federal government and Justice Department launched an investigation in 2007 against Purdue Pharma and three executives pleaded guilty to downplaying OxyContin’s risk of addiction, and during the trial, an expert from Brown University said that by doctors increasing the dosage, the drug became a “virtual addiction-producing machine,” Zapcic said.

    “This was a game changer,” she said. “This was the first time and only time in my life a drug manufacturer flat-out lied to folks, and what we are living with now is the direct result. It’s affecting people from all walks of life.”

    Drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. Four out of five people who become addicted to heroin start out with a legal prescription from a physician, as the result of an injury, a medical procedure or postoperative care, she said.

    “This is largely because of the deceptive and predatory marketing tactics of the drug companies like Purdue Pharma, who lied to both patients and prescribers, putting profits before public safety,” Zapcic said.

    It is estimated that individual states spend upwards of 16 percent of their annual budgets on addiction, while at the local level, the costs outweigh the spending for transportation and other public welfare programs, she said.

    “So I definitely think anything we are able to recover in this lawsuit is worth the effort,” Zapcic said.

    Motley Rice is also representing Santa Clara County, CA; the City of Chicago; the States of Alaska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Kentucky; Albany County, NY; Arundel County, Maryland; Newark, NJ; and Toms River, NJ in similar litigation related to alleged deceptive marketing of highly addictive opioid prescription painkillers.

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21. Boone Co. addresses its own opioid crisis, works collectively to combat the issue

    Oct 26, 2017 | 23 WIFR (IL)

    By Sabrina Bennett

     It's getting harder to find someone who hasn't been directly impacted by the growing opioid epidemic. Now one Stateline county is taking action and educating the community on just how bad it really is.

    The Boone County Sheriff's Department is working closely with other agencies like the probation department, Rosecrance and its drug court program to collectively address the growing issue.

    The county went from having zero opioid deaths in 2009 to nine so far this year. Boone County Sheriff Dave Ernest says those numbers could be higher since patients are transferred to Rockford hospitals.

    "Yea that's been the big issues is obviously with this epidemic is people overdosing whether its people whether it's prescriptions, whether its heroin or fentanyl these are the things that have really been brought to light," said Boone County Sheriff Dave Ernest.

    Within the last few months, Boone County joined a growing list of counties in a mass action lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies. The goal of the lawsuit is to stop companies from over-prescribing narcotics.

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Broadcast Media Coverage

22. What'd You Miss?

    Oct 26, 2017 | Bloomberg (BLOOM)

    By National Programming

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30316099?token=71ea4a1d-d10a-49c9-845e-0fb1647de056
    

    Rough Transcript: as president trump declares the opioid crisis of public health emergency, one company and former ceo is being accused of helping to fuel it. shares of infosys down 18%, as the founder was arrested. julie hyman is here with the story. julie: he has been arrested today in arizona. he was basically accused of helping to fuel the opioid epidemic. he's accused of doing that by bribing doctors to prescribe the drug that this company makes. 3:49 PMit is a fentanyl based spray designed to combat cancer sufferers' pain. the allegations have to do essentially with the company using different levers, allegedly bribes, to convince them -- to convince it to be prescribed for more generalized pain indications. joe: it's not every day you see billionaires being arrested. it's sort of clear there's a backlash coming, more regulators very concerned about it. might expect to see fines or something like that, but it actual arrest of a 74-year-old billionaire is pretty rare. julie: this appears to be the highest ranking person. this does seem to signal the aggressiveness with which officials are going to be prosecuting these kinds of cases and going after what they say are the various parties that 3:50 PMhave helped fuel the opioid crisis here. the stock is already down 34%, even before today. you can see the plunge we are seeing if you include today's action. there are investigations into other companies as well. the u.s. attorney in connecticut is conducting a criminal probe of produce marketing up oxycontin, one of the name brands associated with the opioid crisis. janssen pharmaceuticals have been sued by various cities and states. so there have been various legal actions, but as you say, joe, this is the one that is associated the most specifically with a person and a high profile person at that. again, it's interesting here that this is a company that relies on this drug alone. joe: you mentioned the stock was already doing badly. there was an $80 stock now below seven dollars. investor sentiment toward a lot of companies in this space has turned dramatically. julie: specially pharmaceuticals have been rocked by the valeant pharmaceuticals situation. there's been an enormous amount of volatility because of talk about drug pricing and whether the administration will come down on that, even though there has not been action on that yet. there has been a lot of discussion on it. as a side note, kapoor is involved in another company, acorn, which has been acquired by a german company for $4.3 billion. we had seen the shares dip a little bit today and then come back once there was that reassurance to investors.

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