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Opioid Litigation Daily Media Report - 11/17/17
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Hammond sues pain pill makers, distributors for alleged role in opioid crisis
Nov 16, 2017 | NW Indiana Times (IN)
By Steve Garrison
The city of Hammond filed a racketeering lawsuit in federal court Thursday against more than a dozen opioid manufacturers and distributors for their alleged role in causing the opioid addiction crisis. -
Hammond sues drug companies, distributors for 'responsibility' in opioid crisis
Nov 16, 2017 | Post-Tribune (IN)
By Craig Lyons
The City of Hammond filed a lawsuit against a host of pharmaceutical firms asking a court to hold them responsible for their role in the opioid crisis. -
Indiana city latest to sue drug companies over opioid crisis
Nov 16, 2017 | Associated Press (AP)
A northwestern Indiana city has become the latest government entity to sue pharmaceutical companies and distributors for their alleged role in fueling the opioid abuse crisis. -
Milwaukee Law Firm Officially Files Opioid Lawsuit
Nov 17, 2017 | Door County Pulse (WI)
By Jackson Parr
Door County has officially thrown its hat into the ring against pharmaceutical manufacturers as part of a lawsuit officially filed last week by the law firms of Crueger Dickinson LLC and Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC. The lawsuit seeks to recover costs that local governments have incurred battling the increase in opioid addiction and overdose deaths. -
Chicago's Suit Over Opioids Paused Ahead Of MDL Ruling
Nov 17, 2017 | Law360
By Diana Novak Jones
An Illinois federal judge on Thursday put a hold on the city of Chicago’s lawsuit against a group of pharmaceutical companies over their alleged misrepresentation of opioid painkillers' addictiveness, saying it should wait until a decision is made on whether to consolidate similar claims in multidistrict litigation. -
Suffolk anti-opioid suit becomes lead case in state
Nov 16, 2017 | Newsday
By David M. Schwartz
About 20 lawsuits by New York counties including Nassau have been coordinated with Suffolk’s. -
St. Louis and Mower Counties to sue Big Pharma companies for opioid crisis
Nov 17, 2017 | City Pages (MN)
By Cory Zurowski
In St. Louis County, the jail roster spans 46 pages and 181 names. In Mower County, a four-hour drive south from the Minnesota Arrowhead, the inmate population at the jail in Austin is less than half that. Neither suffers from a shortage of inmates locked up for drug crimes. -
Fairfield County plans to file lawsuit against big drug companies
Nov 16, 2017 | 10TV (OH)
By Meghan Matthews
Desperate for help in the fight against the drug epidemic, Fairfield County is making a move. The Board of Commissioners passed a resolution Thursday to work with several law firms and file a lawsuit against major drug distributors and manufacturers. -
Lake County commissioners mulling opioid lawsuit
Nov 16, 2017 | The News-Herald (OH)
By Andrew Cass
The costs are everywhere. The human cost in Lake County alone is hundreds of lives lost in the past few years. There were 86 drug overdose deaths in the county last year alone, the vast majority opioid-related. -
Ventura County will study suing drug companies over opioids
Nov 16, 2017 | Ventura County Star (CA)
By Kathleen Wilson
Officials will study whether Ventura County government should sue drug companies that produce or distribute opioid medications under a new directive. -
Hamilton County considering legal action to fight opioid epidemic
Nov 16, 2017 | WRCBTV Chattanooga (TN)
By Taneisha Cordell
Cities, counties and states nationwide are taking legal action in the battle against opioids and Hamilton County could be next in line to sue. -
It’s Not Just Opioids (OPINION)
Nov 17, 2017 | Slate
By Daniel F. Kripke
Overdoses are happening at an increasingly fast rate. Mixing opioids with alcohol and sleeping pills is probably making it worse. -
NBC 5 News at 5am
Nov 17, 2017 | WMAQ (NBC)
By Chicago, IL
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30770222?token=6997c69e-a819-4430-bb3b-740fbc196529 -
News 18 This Morning at 6a
Nov 17, 2017 | WLFI (CBS)
By Lafayette, IN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30770138?token=6997c69e-a819-4430-bb3b-740fbc196529 -
News 12 Long Island
Nov 16, 2017 | N12LI (News 12)
By New York, NY
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30770197?token=6997c69e-a819-4430-bb3b-740fbc196529 -
Eyewitness News at 11
Nov 16, 2017 | WRCB (NBC)
By Chattanooga, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30770167?token=6997c69e-a819-4430-bb3b-740fbc196529 -
NewsChannel 9 at Noon
Nov 16, 2017 | WTVC (ABC)
By Chattanooga, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30770207?token=6997c69e-a819-4430-bb3b-740fbc196529
Hammond, IN Suit
Other Litigation Coverage
Commentary and FYIs
Broadcast Media Coverage
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Hammond sues pain pill makers, distributors for alleged role in opioid crisis
Nov 16, 2017 | NW Indiana Times (IN)
By Steve Garrison
The city of Hammond filed a racketeering lawsuit in federal court Thursday against more than a dozen opioid manufacturers and distributors for their alleged role in causing the opioid addiction crisis.
The city's lawsuit alleges the manufacturing companies, which include Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceuticals, used deceptive marketing practices to promote opioid medications beyond their effective short-term use, which has helped fuel a growing crisis in Hammond.
The distributing companies allegedly failed to identify, report and stop suspicious orders of these medications, which also helped fuel the crisis, the lawsuit claims.
The 164-page complaint claims Hammond had the second-highest number of overdose deaths in 2016 in Lake County, which itself has the second-highest number of deaths in the state resulting from drug overdose.
There were 114 overdose deaths in Lake County reported in 2016, according to data provided earlier this year by the Lake County Coroner's Office.
Eighty overdose deaths were reported in 2015, and 68 in 2014. Marion County leads the state in overdose deaths in all three years, according to data from the Indiana State Department of Health.
Lake County also had the second-highest number of non-fatal emergency department visits due to opioid overdose, with 175 visits in 2014, the lawsuit states. The county reported 160 opioid overdose hospital visits in 2015, state health department data indicates.
In 2012 and 2013, there were 96 opioid prescriptions per 100 residents in Lake County, according to the lawsuit. Those numbers have fallen since then — there were 83 prescriptions per 100 residents in the county in 2016, according to data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control.
"The opioid crisis has hit Hammond like it has almost every other city and town in Indiana and across our country," Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said in a statement Thursday. "We have had to expend additional resources and funds to combat it and to help those afflicted with addiction."
McDermott said it was imperative corporations accept their responsibility for the crisis, and this lawsuit will help bring their role to light.
The opioid manufacturers named in the lawsuit are Purdue Pharma, Cephalon Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Noramco Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals, Mallinckrodt PLC, Allergan PLC and Watson Pharmaceuticals.
The named opioid distributors are AmeriSourceBergen Drug Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. PauseCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:00Stream TypeLIVELoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00Fullscreen00:00Mute
The city accuses the companies of racketeering, public nuisance, ordinance violation, negligence, unjust enrichment and damages resulting from a civil conspiracy.
William Foster, a spokesman for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said in a statement Thursday the company believed the allegations in lawsuits against the company are both legally and factually unfounded.
"Responsibly used opioid-based pain medicines give doctors and patients important choices to help manage the debilitating effects of chronic pain," Foster said. "At the same time, we recognize opioid abuse and addiction is a serious public health issue that must be addressed."
Clare Krusing is a spokeswoman for the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a national trade association that represents wholesale distributors, including McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmeriSourceBergen.
She said in a statement the trade association was taking steps to be part of the solution in addressing the opioid epidemic, "but we aren't willing to be scapegoats."
She said distributors were logistics companies that store, transport and deliver medicines, but the companies did not make medicines, market medicines, prescribe medicines or dispense them to consumers.
The other defendant companies did not respond to requests for comment.
Hammond is asking the companies compensate the city for past and future costs to abate the ongoing public nuisance caused by the opioid epidemic, as well as other unspecified damages resulting from the public health crisis.
The city did not respond to an email asking for an estimate of how much has been spent combating the epidemic.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana. The law firm Cohen & Malad of Indianapolis is representing Hammond.
By filing the lawsuit, Hammond has joined dozens of other municipalities across the country seeking restitution from pharmaceutical companies that manufacture or distribute opioid medication.
Cohen & Malad filed a similar lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the city of Indianapolis.
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Hammond sues drug companies, distributors for 'responsibility' in opioid crisis
Nov 16, 2017 | Post-Tribune (IN)
By Craig Lyons
The City of Hammond filed a lawsuit against a host of pharmaceutical firms asking a court to hold them responsible for their role in the opioid crisis.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday relying on a federal racketeering statue, alleged the companies that manufactured and distributed pain killers and opioid-based medications helped fuel the abuse of those medications and contributed to a crisis being faced by Hammond and other communities, according to court documents.
"The opioid crisis has hit Hammond like it has almost every other city and town in Indiana and across our country," said Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. "Here in Hammond, we have had to expend additional resources and funds to combat this epidemic and to help those afflicted with addiction.
"It is imperative that corporations also accept their responsibility in this crisis," McDermott added.
McDermott said he thinks the lawsuit will help show companies' role in the opioid crisis.
"Plaintiff brings this action to eliminate the hazard to public health and safety caused by the opioid epidemic, to abate the nuisance caused thereby, and to recoup monies spent because of defendants' actions," the lawsuit said.
Companies named in the lawsuit include; Purdue Pharma L.P.; Purdue Pharma Inc.; The Purdue Frederick Company Inc.; Cephalon Inc.; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.; Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.; now known as Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc; Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc.; Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Noramco Inc.; Endo Health Solutions Inc.; Mallinckrodt PLC; Mallinckrodt LLC; Allergan, formerly known as Actavis PLS; Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. now known as Actavis Inc.; Watson Laboratories Inc.; Actavis LLC.; Actavis Inc; Actavis Pharma Inc.; formerly known as Watson Pharma Inc.; Amerisourcebergen Drug Corp.; Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp.
The city is seeking an unspecified amount of damages, according to court documents, but asked the court to award funds to compensate for past and future costs attributed to the opioid crisis and establish an "abatement fund."
"A dramatic increase in the use of prescription opioid pain medications, brought on by manufacturer defendants' deceptive marketing campaign and defendants' failure to identify, report and stop suspicious orders of those medications has caused this growing crisis," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit, filed by the Indianapolis law firm of Cohen& Malad and Friedman & Associates of LaPorte said Lake County has seen an increase in overdose deaths since 2012, according to court documents, and Hammond has the second highest rate of overdoses.
Data from Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey shows that overdose deaths have nearly tripled since 2012.
Hammond's lawsuit claims that the manufacturers and distributers failed to warn people and doctors about the potential danger of continuous use of opioid-based painkillers, according to court documents, and enjoyed large profits while communities suffered.
"The rising numbers of persons addicted to opioids have led to increased health care costs and a dramatic increase in social problems, including drug abuse and diversion and the commission of criminal acts to obtain opioids throughout the United States, including Hammond, has been significantly and negatively affected due to widespread inappropriate use of the drugs manufactured and distributed by defendants," the lawsuit said.
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Indiana city latest to sue drug companies over opioid crisis
Nov 16, 2017 | Associated Press (AP)
A northwestern Indiana city has become the latest government entity to sue pharmaceutical companies and distributors for their alleged role in fueling the opioid abuse crisis.
The city of Hammond's federal lawsuit, filed Thursday, accuses several opioid manufacturers and distributors of racketeering, negligence and other alleged acts.
The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports the city's suit alleges the companies used deceptive marketing practices to promote prescription painkillers beyond their effective short-term use.
The complaint also alleges that the companies failed to identify, report and stop suspicious orders of these medications, and that their actions have helped fuel a growing opioid crisis in Hammond that includes addiction and overdose deaths.
The city of Indianapolis filed a similar lawsuit on Tuesday. Several states and dozens of U.S. municipalities have also filed similar complaints.
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Milwaukee Law Firm Officially Files Opioid Lawsuit
Nov 17, 2017 | Door County Pulse (WI)
By Jackson Parr
Door County has officially thrown its hat into the ring against pharmaceutical manufacturers as part of a lawsuit officially filed last week by the law firms of Crueger Dickinson LLC and Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC. The lawsuit seeks to recover costs that local governments have incurred battling the increase in opioid addiction and overdose deaths.
“These companies’ aggressive and fraudulent marketing of prescription opioid painkillers as safe and efficacious for long-term use has led to a drug epidemic in both Wisconsin and around the nation,” said Erin Dickinson, founding partner of Crueger Dickinson, in a press conference at the Washington County Courthouse in West Bend on Nov. 7. “The crisis has overwhelmed county-provided services and it has had a devastating effect on the counties’ ability to pay for those services.”
The lawsuit names five opioid manufacturers as defendants, including Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Cephalon and Endo Pharmaceuticals. These and other pharmaceutical companies have been named in lawsuits nationwide.
The Door County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Oct. 24 to join in the litigation, which will come at no cost to the county except the administrative cost of detailing financial damages. The plaintiff’s lawyers will only be paid contingent on recovery of some funds from the pharmaceutical companies.
“This is a monumental day for Washington County and other counties in the state of Wisconsin because today we are joining forces with other counties to take a stand against big pharma for the significant role they have played in creating this opioid epidemic,” said Rick Gundrum, Washington County Board Chair.
Fond du Lac County Executive Allen Buechel detailed his struggle with opioid addiction symptoms after receiving a prescription following neck surgery.
“I’ve never been depressed in my life,” said Buechel. He went cold turkey on his prescription after three weeks. “I was concerned I would come to the point I would end my life. It took four days before I started to feel somewhat normal again.”
Door County joined in the suit in order to be included on the payout should the lawsuit be successful in recovering funds. A similar multi-governmental lawsuit against tobacco manufacturers in the 1990s resulted in a payout of approximately $200 billion to states over 25 years. County governments did not directly receive any of the payout funds. In the opioid case, governments will only be paid if they join in the lawsuit.
Litigation is expected to take several years and Dickinson estimates more Wisconsin counties will join. Just this week, the counties of Dodge, Marinette and Waushara also joined the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, states and local governments across the country have filed suits themselves.
Governing magazine reported that more than 100 states, cities and counties have filed suit, with a new case being filed nearly every week.
Governing also reported that 41 states have filed to subpoena information and communications from executives of four drug manufacturers. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said if company executives were aware of “what they’ve unleashed on the American public,” he will file a criminal lawsuit on top of the civil suits being filed by state and local governments.
Dickinson said all of those cases will likely be consolidated into one case early next year, but by filing the lawsuit now, Wisconsin counties will have a seat at the table when talks with the pharmaceutical companies begin.
In the next few months, attorneys will help Door County staff in determining how much the county has spent on the opioid epidemic.
“There almost is not a service that the counties provide that is not affected by this in a dramatic way, especially in the last four or five years,” said Dickinson.
Learning those costs will help the county establish their stake in the lawsuit and determine how much they can recover should the counties and related plaintiffs be successful in the lawsuit.
In a statement to The Atlantic, Purdue Pharma said, “We share the…concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions.”
On Nov. 1, Purdue Pharma joined the Prescription Drug Safety Network to help educate high school students in 200 schools on safe use of prescription drugs.
But Dickinson and her colleagues are confident these companies knowingly pushed drugs on people who didn’t need them and the doctors who prescribe them.
“The drug companies are the ones that started this problem,” said Dickinson. “They flipped science on its head with false and deceptive marketing in a very systemic way.”
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Chicago's Suit Over Opioids Paused Ahead Of MDL Ruling
Nov 17, 2017 | Law360
By Diana Novak Jones
An Illinois federal judge on Thursday put a hold on the city of Chicago’s lawsuit against a group of pharmaceutical companies over their alleged misrepresentation of opioid painkillers' addictiveness, saying it should wait until a decision is made on whether to consolidate similar claims in multidistrict litigation.
U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso granted a motion for a stay filed by Purdue Pharma Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and several other companies ahead of a hearing later this month by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on a proposal to join the approximately 75 federal lawsuits over similar claims.
Chicago fought hard against the holdup, saying the city’s case — the first suit to be filed by a municipality — was too critical to the overall opioid litigation to stop moving forward. Discovery is well under way, the city said, and would be applicable to the other cases.
The judge said he appreciated the fact that a stay would slow things down in the three-year-old litigation, but waiting to hear from the JPML is OK.
“I hate to lose any momentum,” Judge Alonso said, but “it’s a stay that makes sense.”
Chicago sued Janssen, Teva, Purdue and several other pharmaceutical companies in 2014, claiming they misled the public about how addictive their products are and pushed doctors to write more prescriptions despite the risks. The city paid for thousands of unnecessary prescriptions for its employees as a result of the companies’ actions, the suit claims.
Several pharmaceutical companies involved in the litigation across the country have asked the JPML to consolidate the cases. The board is set to hear argument on the proposal Nov. 30, according to court records.
The drug companies staring down Chicago’s suit have asked for it to be included in the MDL, and for any consolidation to take place in Illinois federal court. In the meantime, they asked that discovery be stopped.
“I think it’s very likely there will be an MDL,” Mark S. Cheffo of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, counsel for Purdue, told Judge Alonso.
The stay would be “very modest,” Cheffo said, and would protect the defendants from having to duplicate their efforts if the cases are put together in an MDL.
Chicago has opposed the MDL and requested that if one is formed, its suit be left out. There are too many defendants and too many disparate claims for the litigation to be dealt with as an MDL, the city said. Plus, its lawsuit has progressed farther than any of the others, it added, as the parties have made serious headway on electronic discovery.
And time is of the essence, the city said in a brief on the motion. While the suit was pending in 2016, there were 581 opioid overdose deaths in Chicago, a 93 percent increase over the total for 2013.
The suit is “a leader case nationally in this important fight,” Thomas A. Doyle of Wexler Wallace LLP, an attorney for the city, told Judge Alonso on Thursday. A stay at this point “really could make a big difference.”
But Doyle conceded that the JPML usually acts fast after it hears arguments on proposals to form an MDL, usually within 10 days.
A spokesman for Janssen told Law360 the company was pleased with Judge Alonso’s decision.
“We continue to believe the allegations in this lawsuit are both legally and factually unfounded,” the spokesman said.
Representatives for the city, Purdue and Teva did not immediately respond to requests for comment after the ruling.
Purdue is represented by R. Ryan Stoll and Patrick Joseph Fitzgerald of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP and Sheila L. Birnbaum, Mark S. Cheffo and Hayden A. Coleman of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.
Janssen is represented by Michael P. Doss and Scott D. Stein of Sidley Austin LLP and Charles C. Lifland of O’Melveny & Myers LLP.
Teva is represented by Tinos Diamantatos, Gordon Cooney, Jr. and Steven A. Reed of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
The city is represented by Edward Siskel, Thomas McNulty and Fiona Burke of the city of Chicago, Linda Singer, Elizabeth Smith, David I. Ackerman and Jeffrey Nelson of Motley Riceand Kenneth A. Wexler and Thomas A. Doyle of Wexler Wallace LLP.
The case is City of Chicago v. Purdue Pharma LP et al., case number 1:14-cv-04361, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. -
Suffolk anti-opioid suit becomes lead case in state
Nov 16, 2017 | Newsday
By David M. Schwartz
Suffolk County’s lawsuit against drug companies and physicians it accuses of fueling the county’s opioid epidemic will be heard in February before State Supreme Court Justice Jerry Garguilo, an attorney for the county said Thursday.
About 20 lawsuits by New York counties have been coordinated with Suffolk County’s case for discovery purposes, Paul Hanly, chairman of complex litigation for the Manhattan law firm Simmons Hanly Conroy, told the county legislature’s Ways and Means Committee.
A decision is expected in April on motions to dismiss the case by the eleven drug companies and three physicians named as plaintiffs.
“We are very confident that Justice Garguilo will deny most if not all motions to dismiss. Your case, being the leading case in the state, will proceed through the discovery phase,” Hanly said.
Suffolk in August 2016 became the second county in the nation and the first in New York to sue drugmakers in connection with opioid abuse. More than 300 counties are suing drug manufacturers, Hanly said.
Nassau County’s suit against nearly two dozen pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and doctors, filed in June, will be among the actions coordinated with Suffolk’s. Hanly said the suits allege that drugmakers engaged in fraudulent and misleading marketing by telling doctors that the new generation of opiates are nonaddictive starting in 2015.
Purdue Pharmaceutical, the lead defendant in the case and the manufacturer of OxyContin, said in a statement, “We vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense.”
The company said, “We are deeply troubled by the opioid crisis and we are dedicated to being part of the solution.”
Suffolk County’s lawsuit seeks an unspecified sum from the drug companies and doctors for increased county costs for Medicaid, rehabilitation programs, law enforcement and the medical examiner.
Hanly said the county would seek ongoing payments for education related to opiate addiction and reforms to company practices.
Hanley said after the meeting that the amount could approach $100 million for the county. He said his law firm will get a percentage of the settlement, likely 25 percent, but more if the case goes on longer.
A record 349 people died from opioid overdoses in Suffolk in 2016, while 190 died in Nassau County.
“We have a terrible crisis that only seems to be getting worse. We’re losing people at an alarming rate to opiate addiction,” said Legis. Bridget Fleming, (D-Noyac), chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee.
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St. Louis and Mower Counties to sue Big Pharma companies for opioid crisis
Nov 17, 2017 | City Pages (MN)
By Cory Zurowski
In St. Louis County, the jail roster spans 46 pages and 181 names.
In Mower County, a four-hour drive south from the Minnesota Arrowhead, the inmate population at the jail in Austin is less than half that. Neither suffers from a shortage of inmates locked up for drug crimes.
In St. Louis County, social services and treatment centers are swamped. The number of people seeking help for addictions to prescription medications like fentanyl, oxycodone, and Vicodin is higher than that of St. Paul, which has 100,000 more people than St. Louis County.
In Mower County, health and human services caseworkers regularly pay visits to homes with one parent. The other is in jail, AWOL, or sometimes dead from pills, says community health supervisor Pam Kellogg-Marmsoler.
“We’re hearing these things, the loss of a loved one or an absentee parent, more and more,” she says.
The counties have each decided it’s time the manufacturers and distributors of opioids are called out for their hand in a public health crisis that shows no signs of abating.
The St. Louis County commissioners this week voted to allow St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin to initiate a lawsuit against the yet-to-be-named companies.
The Mower County Board of Commissioners did the same Tuesday night. Its 4-to-0 vote (with one commissioner absent) directed Mower County Attorney Kristen Nelsen “to go forward with litigation to pursue” the firms that are behind “the opioid crisis that we are in right now.”
The Minneosta litigation follows the lead of about 60 other counties across the country which have already brought lawsuits accusing pharmaceutical companies and distributors of being complicit to an epidemic, and turning a blind eye to the mounting suffering.
In Minnesota, opioid overdoses are up 430 percent since 2000. That pace of growth is more than double the national average.
The stats in St. Louis County are more scarring. Between 2011 and 2016, heroin, opioids and other prescribed pain med combined to claim 167 lives. In 2015, the county reported the highest per capita rate of heroin and opioid overdose deaths in the state, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
Mower County officials have yet to say the amount of money they will be seeking. St. Louis County’s Rubin did state that any settlement should be enough so the locale gets the “additional resources to combat” the scourge.
Fred Hempel, a chemical dependency counselor with 14 years experience, applauds the counties' measures. He’s of the belief the companies share at least some blame.
“To what extent they’re responsible, I don’t know. I do know opioids are overprescribed,” says Hempel. “It’s been made too easy to access them. The companies have made sure there’s no lack of product.”
Hempel understands the desperation brought on by the epidemic. Local governments are overwhelmed and feel powerless to change things.
“They’re doing the best they can with what they got,” he says. “We all are.”
He sees it in struggling clients, who unknowingly began a descent with 30 pills for back pain. Two months later, they can’t function without them, and have built up a tolerance that requires more pills, with more potency.
"[Counties] want to feel like they’re doing something," Hempel says. "Is it going to be effective? Probably not. It’s going to cost people a lot of money. I do know that. But other than that, I probably don’t see it accomplishing much.”
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Fairfield County plans to file lawsuit against big drug companies
Nov 16, 2017 | 10TV (OH)
By Meghan Matthews
Desperate for help in the fight against the drug epidemic, Fairfield County is making a move.
The Board of Commissioners passed a resolution Thursday to work with several law firms and file a lawsuit against major drug distributors and manufacturers.
"We're using the litigation in hopes of gaining some assistance in the battle that's costing ours and probably every other community in this country," Commission President Steve Davis said.
In the coming weeks, Fairfield County will file a lawsuit against several major drug distributors and manufacturers.
Officials believe those companies contributed to the opioid epidemic that Fairfield County is spending millions of dollars on.
"Not about a money play, but what if it does result in some additional education, what if it does result in some additional treatment," Davis said.
Commission President Steve Davis says Fairfield County will join 20 others across Ohio that have filed or are in the process of filing this kind of lawsuit.
Davis says he isn't sure what will come of it.
"I expect a muddy, unclear result at the end of many years of litigation," Davis said.
But Davis says he and his colleagues have to do everything they possibly can to try and win the drug battle.
"When we're done, and we're not commissioners anymore and we look back on our time in service during the opiate epidemic, what did we do," Davis said.
Davis says Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine supports the county's move to file.
Davis expects the lawsuit to be filed within the next few weeks.
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Lake County commissioners mulling opioid lawsuit
Nov 16, 2017 | The News-Herald (OH)
By Andrew Cass
The costs are everywhere.
The human cost in Lake County alone is hundreds of lives lost in the past few years. There were 86 drug overdose deaths in the county last year alone, the vast majority opioid-related.
The costs can be felt everywhere from the coroner’s office to first responders to children services —which successfully asked Lake County voters for more money in large part because of the increase demand created by the opioid epidemic.
Statewide, the economic toll of the epidemic is now as much as $8.8 billion a year, according to a recent study from Ohio State University researchers.
Now, Lake County commissioners are considering following the footsteps of other counties — including Cuyahoga County — and filing a lawsuit against manufacturers, wholesale distributors and so-called “pill mill” doctors who prescribed medications inappropriately or for nonmedical reasons.
“I think everybody at this point agrees there’s a problem,” attorney Frank L. Gallucci said to the commissioners Nov. 15.
Gallucci was joined at the meeting by attorney and former appeals court judge Mary Jane Trapp and attorney Jim Marniella.
“This idea is to bring the litigation and to specifically seek the damages that have been incurred so far, but to also go after abatement,” Gallucci said.
By abatement, Gallucci said you first look at secondary education: educate the next generation of would-be victims.
Second is law enforcement.
“You cannot simply arrest and incarcerate your way out of this, but through drug task forces, drug courts, getting our first responders what they need with (opioid reversal drug) Narcan, we can have that good middle step that allows them to start tackling it,” he said.
The third is treatment: making sure there are the right treatment centers to get those who have been affected “back on their feet and back into society the proper way.”
With their national counsel New-York based Napoli Shkolnik, Gallucci said they’re also representing Cuyahoga County and are about to file on behalf of Trumbull County. Nationally there are 60 counties that have already filed suits.
In May, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a lawsuit against drug manufacturers Purdue Pharma, Endo Health Solutions, Teva, Johnson & Johnson and Allergan.
But, by only going after the manufacturers, the attorney general’s lawsuit only goes after part of the problem, Gallucci said.
The attorney general’s complaint is about workers’ compensation and Medicaid, Gallucci said. That’s not going to address damages to job and family service departments or coroners’ offices.
Commissioner Jerry Cirino asked the attorneys if there’s a chance that a judge could combine the counties’ lawsuits with the attorney general’s. While Gallucci said there’s “always a chance of anything,” he didn’t believe it was likely. The attorney general’s lawsuit is only suing five companies and counties’ lawsuits are suing more parties.
The attorneys are filing individual cases rather than a class-action suit.
The danger of a class-action lawsuit is that every county’s damages are different.
The attorneys said there will not be a fee to the county if no money recovered in the suit.
“It’s a public nuisance and we need to abate it,” Gallucci said.
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Ventura County will study suing drug companies over opioids
Nov 16, 2017 | Ventura County Star (CA)
By Kathleen Wilson
Officials will study whether Ventura County government should sue drug companies that produce or distribute opioid medications under a new directive.
Voting 4-0 Tuesday, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors directed CEO Mike Powers and legal counsel to explore filing or joining a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical firms. The officials will report their recommendations to the board, which would make the final decision.
If litigation succeeded, it's possible the county could recover law enforcement and treatment costs borne by taxpayers. Nor would that be a precedent. The county has received millions of dollars annually from a 1998 multi-state settlement with tobacco companies.
In the same vote Tuesday, supervisors supported the repeal of a federal law linked to large deliveries of the drugs. The law has made it virtually impossible for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to freeze suspicious shipments from large pharmaceutical companies, according to the "60 Minutes" news program and the Washington Post.
Supervisors ordered managers to convey the county's position to lobbyists and elected representatives. The supervisors represent unincorporated areas of the county.
Supervisor Steve Bennett, who proposed the actions, said there are legitimate uses for the drugs but the companies should be held accountable for abuses.
The county Medical Examiner's Office has tied 62 accidental deaths and suicides to overdoses of opioids during the first nine months of the year. That's four fewer than the 66 reported by county behavioral health officials for 2016, when opioid-linked deaths fell by 23 percent from 2015.
The board also heard from Patrick Zarate, an administrator in a county agency that provides drug treatment. Zarate said he understands local governments have pursued litigation against opioid makers but that the legal costs are significant. Private law firms may take the cases on a contingency basis, he said.
Supervisors directed Zarate to report back to them on the extent of the opioid problem in the county and what's being done.
Bennett and Supervisors John Zaragoza, Kelly Long and Linda Parks voted for the action. Supervisor Peter Foy was absent.
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Hamilton County considering legal action to fight opioid epidemic
Nov 16, 2017 | WRCBTV Chattanooga (TN)
By Taneisha Cordell
Cities, counties and states nationwide are taking legal action in the battle against opioids and Hamilton County could be next in line to sue.
Recent lawsuits claim drug distributors and manufacturers are not reporting suspicious opioids purchases or orders. Attorney Ronald "Ronnie" Berke is working to build a similar case in our area.
The county commission agreed to work with Berke to address opioids in a meeting this week. Berke has worked with other attorney's nationwide who are also pushing for lawsuits on the issue. He says the next step is figuring out how much the epidemic is costing Hamilton County agencies.
"This is a major crisis and it's costing the taxpayers a lot of money," said Berke.
Berke says his fight against the opioid epidemic is personal.
"I have a very close friend who's daughter is hooked on opioids and even rehab did not work and every phone call she's afraid to pick up the phone."
He says drug distributors, manufacturers and drug stores are part of the problem.
"Some of the distributors and manufacturers are located here, but they're pushing their pills here in Hamilton County," said Berke. "They can tell by their sales what they were doing. We can show where they were telling doctors about the addictive nature or what they were claiming was the non-addictive measure of opioids that they knew that I was a lie, but it was selling their drugs."
A lawsuit would list which companies are committing fraud in Hamilton County.
"We're going to have to talk to all of the different departments in the county; fire departments, sheriffs office, probation department, district attorneys office juvenile court," said Berke.
Channel 3 took a look at data Berke collected from the state Department of Health. In 2015 37 people died from an opioid overdose; that number jumped to 53 in 2016. That same year, 388,506 opioid prescriptions were given in Hamilton County. Berke says those numbers will continue to rise.
"There are more prescriptions being written in some counties then people could conceivably take."
Berke plans to avoid a class action suit in order to stay in control of damages and potential settlements. He says he will to go before the commission again in a few months to get more feedback on new information. He says if the lawsuit is approved, it could take a few years for a resolution in at the state or federal level.
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It’s Not Just Opioids (OPINION)
Nov 17, 2017 | Slate
By Daniel F. Kripke
Deaths from drug overdoses have recently multiplied in the U.S., to the point that overdoses are reducing average life span for several demographic slices of the adult population. Opioid abuse is being blamed as the main killer. Doctors’ narcotic prescriptions led to a glut of prescription pain pills in people’s cabinets, which often lead to abuse, and then use of less expensive street opioids that are even more dangerous than prescription drugs.
Efforts of law enforcement and treatment programs have focused on opioids and opioid-manufacturers. But this ignores a critical component of this toxic equation: Opioids are not the only substance to blame. Sleeping pills and alcohol often join to make the combined gang a killer. A whiskey bottle does have a government warning that alcohol “impairs your ability to drive” and “may cause health problems,” but it fails to warn that mixing alcohol with narcotics and sleeping pills or tranquilizers can make a lethal combination (also, alcohol overdose by itself can kill). Like opioids, sleeping pills come from manufacturers who have not warned doctors and patients of the great risks. Many sleeping pills are acquired illegally. And prescription sleeping pills, as well as alcohol abuse, have all increased in the past 10–15 years, just as opioids have. (By “sleeping pills,” I refer mainly to the benzodiazepine-agonist hypnotics, most popularly zolpidem, eszopiclone, and temazepam in the U.S.)
A Food and Drug Administration–supported study estimated that in 2011, 31 percent of opioid overdose deaths also involved a benzodiazepine (either a sleeping pill or a tranquilizer). Other estimates of the percentage of opiate overdose deaths associated with benzodiazepines were higher. The 31 percent likely underestimated multiple drug participation because about 25 percent of overdose death certificates did not list all of the drugs involved. Likewise, that 31 percent did not include the most popular sleeping pill,zolpidem, which acts like a benzodiazepine although its chemical structure has a different name.
Zolpidem has frequently been reported in overdose deaths and increasingly causes emergency room visits. When mixed together, zolpidem, similar sleeping pills, and tranquilizers as well as alcohol increase the lethality of opioid overdoses. These drugs gang up to stop breathing. More than 20 percent of the emergencies involving a benzodiazepine also involved alcohol. Many overdose deaths involving sleeping pills and alcohol did not even include an opioid.
Declaring an opioid emergency overlooks a large part of the problem. State governments have passed over the other substances while they sue opioid manufacturers and regulate opioid prescriptions. States do tax and restrict alcohol sales, recognizing that alcohol causes deaths and much damage beyond overdoses. But even though states often even pay for sleeping pills (through Medicaid), they have taken no actions to reduce their overuse. Sleeping pills cause much death and damage besides overdoses—they have been associated with falls and accidents, and cause infections and depression. The public receives almost no warning of the most serious risks.
A much greater effort is needed to protect the public from the risks of combining opiates, sleeping pills, and alcohol. Government publicity, teaching materials, courses, and treatment programs for doctors, patients, and the public should all emphasize the risks of the drug combinations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and FDA drug labeling warn about combining opiates, benzodiazepines, and alcohol, but have failed to warn about the risks of combining opiates with zolpidem or eszopiclone, which constitute about 75 percent of the sleeping pill market.
Regulators have a role here too—they should give the same attention to sleeping pills that they give to the opioid and alcohol killers. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the FDA, state authorities, and police should all realize that the overdose epidemic is not isolated—it often results from multiple drugs being allowed to work together. If we are working to stop one, we should work to stop all three.
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Nov 17, 2017 | WMAQ (NBC)
By Chicago, IL
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30770222?token=6997c69e-a819-4430-bb3b-740fbc196529
Rough Transcript: new this morning the city of hammond has filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers and stwrib outers of opioid. the suit filed yesterday alleges distributors filed to report and stop suspicious opioid orders that flooded the city. it also alleges the manufacturers used deceptive marketing on the appropriate uses, risks, and safety of those drugs. the suit seeks to recover the funds that the opioid crisis has placed on the city of hammond and lake county, indiana, as well.
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Nov 17, 2017 | WLFI (CBS)
By Lafayette, IN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30770138?token=6997c69e-a819-4430-bb3b-740fbc196529
Rough Transcript: another indiana city is following a growing trend to fight the opioid epidemic. hammond in northern indiana has now filed a lawsuit against several major painkiller manufacturers.the suit claims the manufacturers were deceptive about the addictiveness of their medications.it includes accusations of negligence, racketeering, and deceptive marketing.as we've previously reported, indianapolis has already filed a similar lawsuit,.the companies most often named in such suits include endo, teva, and purdue pharma, which has áno association with purdue university.
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Nov 16, 2017 | N12LI (News 12)
By New York, NY
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30770197?token=6997c69e-a819-4430-bb3b-740fbc196529
Rough Transcript: suffolk is moving forward with a landmark case against big pharma. as news 12 has reported - the county was one of the first in the nation to file a lawsuit against the manufacturers of prescription opioids. 20 new york counties are now suing --- and all the cases are being grouped together and heard in sufolk supreme court. the pharmaceutical companies have filed a motion to dismis the cases. oral arguments will be presented on february 7th.
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Nov 16, 2017 | WRCB (NBC)
By Chattanooga, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30770167?token=6997c69e-a819-4430-bb3b-740fbc196529
Rough Transcript: cities, counties and states nationwide are taking legal action in the battle against opioids. 11:55 PMand hamilton county could be next in line to sue. recent lawsuits claim drug distributors and manufacturers are not reporting suspicious opioid purchases or orders. channel 3'staneisha cordell spoke with an attorney who's working to build a similar case in our area. the county commission agreed to work with attorney ronnie berke to address opioids in a meeting this week. berke has worked with other attorney's nationwide who are also pushing for lawsuits on the issue. he says the next step is figuring out how much the epidemic is costing hamilton county agencies. 11 this is a major crisis and it's costing the taxpayers a lot of money :4 attorney ronnie berke says his fight against the opioid epidemic is personal. s/ ronald berke: i have a very close friend who's daughter is hooked on opioids and even rehab did not work and every phone call she's afraid to pick up the phone :14 he says drug distributors, manufacturers and drug stores 11:56 PMare part of the problem. s/ ronald berke: they can tell by their sales what they were doing we can show where they were telling doctors about the addictive nature or what they were claiming was the non-addictive measure of opioids that they knew that i was a lie but it was selling their drugs :18 berke says a lawsuit would list which companies are committing fraud in hamilton county. s/ ronald berke: it will be hamilton county will be the plaintiffs versus a lot of companies :5 but there's a lot of work to be done before a lawsuit is filed. s/ ronald berke: we're going to have to talk to all of the different departments in the county; fire departments, sheriffs office, probation department, district attorneys office juvenile court :15 we took a look at data berke collected from the state. in 2015 - 37 died from opioids. that number jumped to 53 last year. berke says the numbers will continue to rise. s/ ronald berke: there are more prescriptions being written in some counties then people could conceivably take :6 berke plans to avoid a class action suit in order to stay in control of damages and potential settlements. he plans to go before the commission again in a few months to get more feedback. if the lawsuit is approved it could take a few years for a resolution.
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Nov 16, 2017 | WTVC (ABC)
By Chattanooga, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/30770207?token=6997c69e-a819-4430-bb3b-740fbc196529
Rough Transcript: hamilton county may file a lawsuit over the deadly and costly opioid epidemic. in and out county commission moved forward with working on an agreement with attorney renny burke. burke says there will be an effort to figure out how much fighting the epidemic has cost county agencies. now he says a civil lawsuit could be filed against companies he claims lied to the medical community about the dangers. >> it is really created by the drug companies and the distributers that are going to the doctors, telling them initially this medication, which was suppose to just be for the end of life cancer patients was not addictive. >> now burke says mayor jim and the coission would have the final say so over whether to file the lawsuit.
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