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Opioid Litigation Daily Media Report - 11/30/17
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Steuben votes to join lawsuit against manufacturers
Nov 29, 2017 | Press & Sun Bulletin (NY)
By Hannah Schwartz
Steuben County will join more than 20 counties across New York and file suit against opioid manufacturers after its legislature voted unanimously to retain counsel for a case. -
Monroe County poised to join long list suing companies that produce opioid medications
Nov 29, 2017 | Democrat & Chronicle (NY)
By Patti Singer
Monroe County is likely to announce in the next few weeks that it will join the list of New York counties — most recently Livingston — looking to recoup some of the money they say they’ve spent on law enforcement, treatment and family court services related to opioids by suing the companies that make and promote the medication. -
County Brings Legal Action Against Drug Companies
Nov 29, 2017 | The Examiner (NY)
By David Propper
Putnam County is one of countless municipalities that have been hit hard by the drug epidemic that’s swept across the United States at a breathtaking rate. Now, Putnam is punching back against the drug companies that county officials believe contributed to the crisis. -
Putnam County to Sue Drugmakers Over Opioid Epidemic
Nov 29, 2017 | TAP into Mahopac (NY)
By Bob Dumas
The Putnam County Legislature is moving to join various states and counties across the country in filing lawsuits against both pharmaceutical companies and distributors that County Executive MaryEllen Odell says created a nationwide opioid epidemic through the fraudulent and negligent marketing and distribution of pain medications. -
Two-thirds of Wisconsin counties have now sued opioid-makers in federal court
Nov 29, 2017 | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
By Don Behm
Two-thirds of all Wisconsin counties — 48 of 72 — have now filed lawsuits in federal district court in Milwaukee against the makers of prescription opioid painkillers. -
Brown County considers joining lawsuit against drug companies over opioid crisis
Nov 29, 2017 | NBC 26 (WI)
By Marisa DeCandido
Another 20 Wisconsin counties have filed lawsuits accusing pharmaceutical companies of causing the nation's opioid overdose epidemic, and Brown County could soon join them. -
Cascade County plans to sue opioid makers
Nov 29, 2017 | KPAX (MT)
By Margaret DeMarco
Cascade County has retained a law firm to fight the opioid crisis. -
Gallatin Co. to vote on pharmaceutical company lawsuit
Nov 29, 2017 | NBC Montana (MT)
By Judith Retana
Gallatin County commissioners are debating whether they will join a lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers. The county says those manufacturers are behind the opioid epidemic. -
Teamsters Files Suit Against Drug Cos. For Opioid Push
Nov 29, 2017 | Law360
By Dani Kass
A potential class of third-party payors led by a Teamsters health and welfare benefit fund on Tuesday joined the wealth of parties suing drugmakers and distributors for allegedly conspiring to market opioids as safe for long-term use without scientific backing, leading to the national opioid crisis. -
Lorain County commissioners to sue drug companies over opioid epidemic
Nov 29, 2017 | The Morning Journal News (OH)
By Keith Reynolds
Lorain County commissioners voted unanimously Nov. 29 to bring in an outside counsel to file suit against various pharmaceutical companies for their part in the county’s opiate crisis. -
Local lawyer plans to take on drug companies
Nov 30, 2017 | The Moulton Advertiser (AL)
By John David Palmer
The U.S. is in the midst of what many are calling an opioid epidemic and one local attorney is asking the Moulton City Council to hire him along with a Florida law firm to seek reparations from the pharmaceutical companies that distribute the drugs at the root of the public health crisis. -
Weber County plans to sue opioid manufacturers and distributors
Nov 30, 2017 | Standard Examiner (UT)
By Cathy Mckitrick
In light of the nation’s raging opioid epidemic, Weber County officials approved taking legal action against pharmaceutical companies and distributors of the highly addictive drugs. -
They Get Us Coming and Going: Big Pharma is Set to Profit From Fixing the Problem it Created
Nov 29, 2017 | The Ring of Fire Network
By KJ McElrath
According to the final report of the White House Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, the pharmaceutical industry is a primary reason for the nation’s current addiction crisis. However, as state and local governments file lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies and drug distributors, the Federal government is gearing up to line the pockets of Big Pharma so that the industry can start working to solve the opioid addiction crisis that it created. -
Attorney General Jeff Sessions creates new DEA office to 'turn tide' in opioid crisis
Nov 29, 2017 | USA TODAY
By Kevin Johnson
For the first time in 20 years, the Drug Enforcement Administration is opening a new field office, in an attempt to turn the tide in the worsening opioid crisis that has fueled record-setting overdose fatalities across the country. -
Trump's Counselor Kellyanne Conway Is Now Leading His Opioids Strategy
Nov 30, 2017 | Buzzfeed News
By Dan Vergano
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday announced that pollster Kellyanne Conway, 50, counselor to President Donald Trump, would oversee White House efforts to combat the opioid overdose epidemic. -
Good Morning Memphis 8am LIVE
Nov 30, 2017 | WHBQ (Fox)
By Memphis, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071486?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2 -
FOX 16 News at 7
Nov 30, 2017 | WJKT (Fox)
By Jackson, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071561?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2 -
Montana Matters
Nov 30, 2017 | KRTV (CBS)
By Great Falls, MT
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071536?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2 -
Montana Today
Nov 30, 2017 | KECI (NBC)
By Missoula, MT
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071537?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2 -
Fox 56 10 O'Clock News
Nov 29, 2017 | WDKY (Fox)
By Lexington, KY
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071579?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2 -
Action News Jax at 8:00am
Nov 30, 2017 | WFOX (Fox)
By Jacksonville, FL
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071540?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2
New York Counties
Wisconsin Counties
Montana Counties
Other Litigation Coverage
Commentary and FYIs
Broadcast Media Coverage
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Steuben votes to join lawsuit against manufacturers
Nov 29, 2017 | Press & Sun Bulletin (NY)
By Hannah Schwartz
Steuben County will join more than 20 counties across New York and file suit against opioid manufacturers after its legislature voted unanimously to retain counsel for a case.
According to the resolution passed Monday, Steuben's county attorney has already received bids for counsel, and has recommended a retainer proposal to the legislature.
Counties and municipalities across the nation have begun filling suit against opioid manufacturers in a trend similar to tobacco litigation in the late 1990s. In its February filing, Broome County claimed the pharmaceutical companies it's suing knew about the dangers of opioid use, but tried to convince physicians and patients that opioids were safe for long-term pain treatment.
"Defendants accomplished that false perception through a coordinated, sophisticated and highly deceptive marketing campaign that began in the late 1990s, became more aggressive in or about 2006 and continues to the present," the suit says.
The other suits are based on the same claim. Pharmaceutical companies have denied the allegations, and have asked judges to dismiss the cases.
At least nine counties are now coordinating their cases after the state's Litigation Coordinating Panel approved the move July 17. The cases will now be overseen by a judge in Suffolk County, the state's first county to file such a suit.
Coordination is distinct from class action. In coordinated suits, the cases remain separate if they go to trial. Initial stages of the suits, including discovery, are coordinated.
Steuben, like other counties across the state, will claim in its suit that opioid manufacturers' tactics have cost the county in emergency services and Medicaid dollars, said Steuben County Manager Jack Wheeler.
"The impacts (of the epidemic) are different, but the gist of the lawsuit is very common," Wheeler said. "I do think that many of us are going to be operating under the same legal theory."
He said 16 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016, according to findings from the county medical examiner.
"That doesn't even count the near misses," he said, referring to people who were revived with Naloxone. "That's a scary, scary detail for a small rural county."
The Tompkins County Legislature voted Nov. 10 to file suit against opioid manufacturers.
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Monroe County poised to join long list suing companies that produce opioid medications
Nov 29, 2017 | Democrat & Chronicle (NY)
By Patti Singer
Monroe County is likely to announce in the next few weeks that it will join the list of New York counties — most recently Livingston — looking to recoup some of the money they say they’ve spent on law enforcement, treatment and family court services related to opioids by suing the companies that make and promote the medication.
The county is finalizing its legal strategy and will announce next steps in the near future, according to an email from spokesman Jesse Sleezer.
"Monroe County continues to aggressively combat the heroin and opioid epidemic in our community,” he continued in an email. “To that end, the county will soon join a lawsuit against the appropriate parties.”
The Livingston County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in mid-November to pursue legal action against manufacturers and others who the board claims made and promoted opioids in an unsafe manner.
“We feel this is a movement and there is momentum to it, so shame on us for not trying to help our county with all the expense we, too, have incurred,” said Livingston County Attorney Shannon Hillier about their decision.
The USA Today Network reported a few weeks ago that 10 counties in the state, including Tompkins and Seneca, said they would sue. The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) has been encouraging counties to consider action, and more than 40 state attorneys general, including New York’s Eric Schneiderman, have demanded the drug makers turn over documents related to marketing their product. Nationwide, more than 100 counties have plans to sue, according to the National Association of Counties.
Stephen Acquario, executive director of the association of counties, said there is no deadline for counties to file suit.
"When Monroe County and any New York county truly understands the marketing and distribution practices of the manufacturers and the distributors, they will be looking at this very carefully and then proceeding to join the litigation," Acquario said. "I would anticipate Monroe to enter into this."
Wayne County Administrator Rick House said he is not feeling pressure to make a decision. “We’re not going to jump on board that train because that’s what others are doing.”
He said the topic of filing a lawsuit will be discussed next week in committee and depending on the outcome, a resolution could be brought to the full board of supervisors.
“Everybody understands the crisis we’re in the midst of,” House said. “I think a lot of jurisdictions are looking at going to the source. That may be a viable option. … We’re walking softly. Is this the way to approach the issue, what are the ramifications and what are we signing on to?”
Calls to the Ontario County administrator on the issue were not immediately returned.
Investigators will help document expenses
Livingston County voted to retain the New York City firm Napoli Shkolnik on a contingency basis. The firm is one of two in the state that solicited counties. County attorney Hillier said she received material from both those firms, but only Napoli Shkolnik responded to her inquiries. She said she was concerned that a lawsuit would end up in finger-pointing to doctors, but she said the firm assured her that would not be the case.
Hillier and Livingston County Administrator Ian Coyle said the county has incurred costs related to first responder and other medical services, treatment in the county jail, and foster care and adoption services.
From January through March 2017, Livingston did not record an opioid overdose death. However it had nine opioid overdoses that resulted in outpatient emergency department visits, according to preliminary data from the state Department of Health. In 2016, Livingston had eight opioid overdose deaths, 35 emergency department visits and 13 hospitalizations.
Hillier said details of the agreement with Napoli Shkolnik are being worked out. Once the contract is signed, Napoli Shkolnik will send investigators to help officials of various county departments to document expenses related to opioid abuse.
Livingston will not pay the firm. It will get a percentage of any settlement or award at trial.
Hillier said that at this point, the lawsuits have not been established as class action.
The action against opioid manufacturers is being compared to lawsuits against the tobacco industry in the 1990s.
“It’s an industry specific allegation of consumer fraud and marketing,” Acquario said. “That’s what makes the two alike.”
While it’s far too soon to know what Livingston — or any county — actually will reap, the analogy isn’t complete without noting there was no requirement that money paid by tobacco companies be used expressly to combat the effects of tobacco use.
“We will be advocating for the same distribution, that there should not be a string tied,” Acquario said.
He said other county services can suffer when money is shifted to fund a crisis, and that an influx can be used in the budget process to restore balance or to fund programs that address a pressing need.
“It’s all interrelated and interconnected, the revenues and expenditures of a county government,” he said.
Opioid deaths, hospitalizations, by county.
The following are preliminary data on deaths, outpatient emergency department visits and hospitalizations related to all opioid overdoses for some local counties that are, or may, consider legal action against opioid makers and distributors. The data comes from the October 2017 New York State — County Opioid Quarterly Report.
Monroe County: 2016: 118 deaths; 468 ED visits; 127 hospitalizations. January to March, 2017: 4 deaths; 150 ED visits; 38 hospitalizations.
Livingston County: 2016:8 deaths; 35 ED visits; 13 hospitalizations. January to March, 2017: 0 deaths, 9 ED visits; less than 6 hospitalizations.
Ontario County: 2016: 11 deaths; 65 ED visits; 16 hospitalizations. January to March, 2017: 0 deaths; 24 ED visits; fewer than 6 hospitalizations.
Wayne County: 2016: 7 deaths; 58 ED visits; 19 hospitalizations. January to March, 2017: 0 deaths, 10 ED visits, less than six hospitalizations.
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County Brings Legal Action Against Drug Companies
Nov 29, 2017 | The Examiner (NY)
By David Propper
Putnam County is one of countless municipalities that have been hit hard by the drug epidemic that’s swept across the United States at a breathtaking rate. Now, Putnam is punching back against the drug companies that county officials believe contributed to the crisis.
The county Legislature approved litigation during a special full meeting Tuesday night to sue several of the largest pharmaceutical companies and distributors in the country, signing on with the law firm Napoli Shkolnik PLCC which will handle the case. The final tally was 8-0 in favor of the action, with Legislator Dini LoBue absent.
Napoli Shkolnick, which has recently been named co-lead counsel in the lawsuit, has investigated potential and governmental entities against pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors. The companies facing legal heat include Purdue Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc., Johnson and Johnson, and Endo Pharmaceuticals, as well distributors, including McKesson Corp., Cardinal health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. The lawsuit claims these companies helped create an opioid crisis because of fraudulent and negligent marketing and distribution of pain medications.
County Executive MaryEllen Odell said in an interview after talking to the law firm, it was explained to her that it would be at no cost to the county and would not increase the work burden on the county law department.
“I thought we’ve done so much in Putnam County (against the drug crisis),” Odell said. “I made the decision that we should probably join in on the litigation piece with the pharmaceutical companies and see where it goes.”
Odell said she became aware of the possible legal move while reading The Wall Street Journal several months ago that reported a couple states were battling pharmaceutical companies for their part in the opioid scourge. She read that those legal battles resulted in money settlements and even changed drug companies’ practices.
“I started to see that there was some value litigating these pharmaceutical companies,” Odell said.
The goal of the lawsuit is to recuperate money the county spent as a result of prescription opioid abuse, including workplace costs connected to loss of productively, healthcare costs and criminal justice costs, according to a press release by the county. Part of the resolution voted on stated the county is seeking accountability from those companies that engaged in “fraudulent and negligent practices which caused immeasurable harm to Putnam County residents and taxpayers.”
Similar lawsuits have been brought forward across the country, with pharmaceutical companies denying wrongdoing.
“We are deeply troubled by the opioid crisis and we are dedicated to being part of the solution…. We vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense,” Purdue Pharma stated in a Texas Tribune article addressing a lawsuit a Texas county brought against them.
The Cardinal Health CEO called the blame his company is facing connected to the drug crisis “profoundly disappointing.”
“It has become abundantly clear that addressing this genuine drug abuse crisis by trying to find someone to blame only takes us further away from solving the issue,” CEO George Barrett said, according to an article in the Columbus Business First. “A resolution can only be found through an honest collaboration. Cardinal Health is committed to engage fully, and I’m personally prepared to use as much of my time in the days ahead to be part of the solution.”
During the special full meeting, Legislator Barbara Scuccimarra said she was pleased to move forward with the lawsuit, citing several other New York counties have taken a similar action including Nassau, Suffolk, Orange Dutchess, Rockland, Sullivan, Erie, Ulster, and Broome. She said the point of the lawsuit is to send a message to the drug companies that it’s time to change the way they do business.
Legislature Chairwoman Ginny Nacerino agreed, arguing the county wasn’t pursuing this path for money.
“It is important to stop what’s been going on for so many years,” Nacerino said. “And what has caused harm to so many people.”
Legislator Bill Gouldman said it was important to address this major crisis. He noted inner cities dealt with drug addiction many years ago, but the last several years it’s extended to the suburbs and small towns. Legislator Paul Jonke said the drug epidemic needs to be tackled and this is a good step toward that.
Legislator Neal Sullivan said drug companies would only get a wake up call when they are hit financially.
“We’re taking a bold step as a legislature,” Sullivan said.
Resident Lynne Eckardt, a councilwoman from Southeast, asked where the money would go if the county settled the lawsuit or won the litigation. While Nacerino said there wasn’t a firm idea how any possible money would be expended, she thinks it would likely go toward organizations and efforts to curb drug abuse rather than money for the county to hold onto. Odell said if the county is awarded money, she would strongly suggest that the money be returned to the organizations that help drug addicts and their families.
“We’ve had this one army on the war on addiction and this is just another effort we’re making to do what we can to stop this epidemic,” Odell said.
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Putnam County to Sue Drugmakers Over Opioid Epidemic
Nov 29, 2017 | TAP into Mahopac (NY)
By Bob Dumas
The Putnam County Legislature is moving to join various states and counties across the country in filing lawsuits against both pharmaceutical companies and distributors that County Executive MaryEllen Odell says created a nationwide opioid epidemic through the fraudulent and negligent marketing and distribution of pain medications.
“New York State has been one of the hardest hit states in the nation, with the rate of prescription and heroin overdoses exceeding almost every other state in the country, and Putnam County is not immune from it,” Odell said. “Through our One Army in the War Against Addiction [program], the county has worked with law enforcement agencies and many not-for-profit organizations to fight the battle within our communities through awareness, education and enforcement, but we need to do more.”
Odell, who is president of the New York Association of Counties, said governments should take a page from the tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s and collectively go after the source of the prescription opioid epidemic—the pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors— and hold them accountable.
At a special full legislature meeting held Tuesday, Nov. 21, the legislature voted unanimously to have the law firm of Napoli Shkolnik PLLC represent Putnam County’s interests in the New York Opioid Cost Recovery litigation.
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Two-thirds of Wisconsin counties have now sued opioid-makers in federal court
Nov 29, 2017 | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
By Don Behm
Two-thirds of all Wisconsin counties — 48 of 72 — have now filed lawsuits in federal district court in Milwaukee against the makers of prescription opioid painkillers.
Kenosha, Dodge, Manitowoc and 17 other counties sued the drug-makers Tuesday and joined 28 counties that fired the first volley Nov. 7.
Each of the lawsuits alleges several pharmaceutical drug-makers and physicians engaged in fraudulent marketing of the painkillers that contributed to a nationwide public health crisis of opioid addiction and overdose deaths.
The lawsuits seek compensation for millions of dollars that the counties spent on social services, courts, law enforcement, health services and emergency care in responding to the opioid epidemic.
"Counties are bearing a large burden of the costs associated with combating this public health emergency," said Erin Dickinson of Crueger Dickinson LLC in Whitefish Bay, lead attorney in the lawsuits filed Tuesday. Crueger Dickinson is joined by Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC, a New York City-based national law firm, as co-counsel.
"Kenosha County has been affected by the opioid crisis in our county and it has a responsibility to those in need," Kenosha County Board Chair Kimberly Breunig said in a statement. "Those companies that made misrepresentations and false claims to physicians and others in our community should be held accountable for their part in the crisis."
The counties' lawsuits allege the opioid-makers misled local physicians, patients, health care providers and health care insurers with a campaign of misinformation that claimed using opioids to treat chronic pain was safe for most patients and that the drugs' benefits outweighed the risks.
Milwaukee County is in the process of hiring legal experts to prepare its own lawsuit against opioid-makers and distributors.
Dozens of states, cities and counties throughout the U.S. have filed similar lawsuits in federal and state courts attempting to hold pharmaceutical drug-makers and distributors accountable for bad faith business practices and misrepresentation in marketing of opioids.
A hearing is scheduled Thursday in St. Louis before a U.S. judicial panel on multidistrict litigation to consider consolidation of all of the lawsuits filed in federal district courts.
The rate of opioid overdose deaths in Wisconsin nearly doubled from 5.9 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2006 to 10.7 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2015, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Opioid overdoses caused 1,824 deaths in Wisconsin between 2013 and 2015.
Kenosha County reported 103 opioid overdose deaths in that three-year period. The crisis kept pace in 2016 with 35 deaths in the county.
In 2015, there were nearly six hospitalizations and emergency room visits due to opioids for every death involving opioid overdoses in the state. Kenosha County reported 979 opioid-related hospital visits that year.
The defendants in the Wisconsin lawsuits are: Purdue Pharma L.P.; Purdue Pharma Inc.; The Purdue Frederick Co. Inc.; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.; Cephalon Inc.; Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc.; Endo Health Solutions Inc.; Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and physicians Perry Fine of Utah, Scott Fishman of California and Lynn Webster of Utah.
The physicians allegedly were "instrumental in promoting opioids for sale and distribution nationally" and in Wisconsin, according to the lawsuits.
Purdue Pharma is the maker of OxyContin and Dilaudid. Endo Pharmaceuticals is the maker of Percocet and Percodan. Janssen Pharmaceuticals makes a fentanyl skin patch. Cephalon makes a fentanyl lozenge. Fentanyl is a pain medication 50 times more powerful than heroin.
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Brown County considers joining lawsuit against drug companies over opioid crisis
Nov 29, 2017 | NBC 26 (WI)
By Marisa DeCandido
Another 20 Wisconsin counties have filed lawsuits accusing pharmaceutical companies of causing the nation's opioid overdose epidemic, and Brown County could soon join them.
Two thirds of Wisconsin's counties have now filed lawsuits.
The Brown County Corporation Counsel took the first step towards potentially joining the lawsuits Wednesday by going before the Public Safety Committee for approval moving forward.
The counsel argued the opioid epidemic is a strain on the county, with an increase in arrests, people in jail and in drug treatment, as well as children being placed in foster homes.
"It really does touch almost every aspect of the community, and it's quite costly for the county to be providing these extra services that are caused by the opioid crisis," said David Hemery with the Brown County Corporation Counsel.
Named in previous complaints are Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Endo Health Solutions, Inc. and subsidiaries of the companies. Previous lawsuits accuse the manufacturers of misleading the public about the safety of opioid-based drugs.
All have denied the allegations in the Wisconsin lawsuits and others across the country.
The lawsuits seek unspecified monetary damages from the companies.
The Brown County Corporation Counsel must clear two more committees before taking their request to sue to the full county board on December 13.
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Cascade County plans to sue opioid makers
Nov 29, 2017 | KPAX (MT)
By Margaret DeMarco
Cascade County has retained a law firm to fight the opioid crisis.
During their Tuesday commission meeting, county commissioners agreed to retain Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett, PC., Kovacich Snipes P.C., and others across Montana to represent the county in litigation against opioid manufacturers.
The suit will allege that manufacturers use negligent and fraudulent marketing tactics that are used to get the pills on the market. The county is seeking damages to help with recovery and the ability to provide more resources that will address opioid abuse in Cascade County.
"More than 100 Montanans die each year from drug overdose, 42% of that attributed to opioids. It is the #3 leading cause death in Montana, only behind motor vehicle accidents and suicides. It is a far-reaching economic problem for Cascade County. It affects multiple facets of our county government and it is very expensive,” said attorney Ben Snipes.
Snipes says the county hopes to use the resources from the lawsuit to help with addiction prevention, rehabilitation and education.
The Gallatin County Commission has also expressed interest in suing opioid manufacturers with commissioner Don Seifert saying that in addition to all the other problems, commissioners say it’s very costly for taxpayers.
“The abuse of opioids in our society, it's caused great expense to the people of Gallatin County, citizens of Gallatin County, and this is a way that we can maybe get a handle on some of that abuse,” said Gallatin County Commissioner Don Seifert.
Other counties that are reportedly interested going to court over the issue of opioids include Missoula, Yellowstone and Anaconda-Deer Lodge.
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Gallatin Co. to vote on pharmaceutical company lawsuit
Nov 29, 2017 | NBC Montana (MT)
By Judith Retana
Gallatin County commissioners are debating whether they will join a lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers. The county says those manufacturers are behind the opioid epidemic.
Gallatin County commissioner Don Seifert tells NBC Montana opioid manufacturers must be held accountable. The county is no stranger to the opioid epidemic. Seifert said money and resources poured into dealing with opioid abuse are on the rise.
"Opioid companies are enticing physicians to over-prescribe and over-medicate," Seifert said.
The commissioner said those actions are burdening the city-county health department and costing tax payers. According to Seifert, the county spends $103,666 a year on court services dealing with opioid abuse.
According to county documents, the Missouri River Drug Task Force reports 58 overdoses so far this year.
"Conversations with the Missouri River Drug Task Force, the people in the sheriff's department and other law enforcement officials show that opioid abuse is one thing that they see on a regular basis," Seifert said.
Paramedics in the county also report seeing an increase in the use of Naloxone. It’s a drug that treats opioid overdoses. County documents say it was administered 14 times in 2014. That number is up to 35 times so far this year.
"This will be an ongoing discussion and an ongoing issue for a long time. It won’t be solved tomorrow," Seifert said.
The commissioner said this is only a small step in ending the epidemic.
Commissioners will vote on the lawsuit at their meeting on Tuesday. That meeting starts at 9 a.m. at the county courthouse on Main Street.
The lawsuit would come at the expense of a local law firm that’s engaging other counties to join. Cascade County has already voted to be part of the lawsuit.
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Teamsters Files Suit Against Drug Cos. For Opioid Push
Nov 29, 2017 | Law360
By Dani Kass
A potential class of third-party payors led by a Teamsters health and welfare benefit fund on Tuesday joined the wealth of parties suing drugmakers and distributors for allegedly conspiring to market opioids as safe for long-term use without scientific backing, leading to the national opioid crisis.
Teamsters Health Services and Insurance Plan Local 404 says that Purdue Pharma LP, Cephalon Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals and other companies violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act as part of a scheme to increase the number of opioid prescriptions. While they knew the painkillers were addictive and unproven for long-term use, they pushed doctors and the public to prescribe or use them, the suit says.
“Defendants knew that, barring exceptional circumstances, opioids are too addictive and too debilitating for long-term use for chronic non-cancer pain lasting three months or longer,” the suit states. “Despite the foregoing knowledge, in order to expand the market for opioids and realize blockbuster profits, defendants sought to create a false perception of the safety and efficacy of opioids in the minds of medical professionals and members of the public that would encourage the use of opioids for longer periods of time and to treat a wider range of problems, including such common aches and pains as lower back pain, arthritis and headaches.”
The suit names manufacturers Purdue; Abbott Laboratories; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and its unit Cephalon; Johnson & Johnson and its unit Janssen; Endo; and Allergan PLC and its unit Watson Laboratories Inc., along with distributors McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. Various subsidiaries were also named.
The suit says that the companies used a “coordinated, sophisticated and highly deceptive marketing campaign” starting in the late 1990s to make the public believe opioids were safe for long-term use. In 2006, that campaign “became more aggressive” and has yet to die down, it says.
The scheme was massively successful, leading to 254 million opioid prescriptions around the United States in 2010, “enough to medicate every adult in America around the clock for a month,” the complaint states. As of 2014, about 2 million people in the U.S. were abusing the drugs or dependant on them, the suit says. In 2012, drug companies made about $8 billion off the drugs, with Purdue alone making $3.1 billion for OxyContin, according to the fund.
This reliance on opioids has led to the Teamsters and other third-party payors having to pay extra for addiction treatment, overdose medication and other medical costs, the suit claims.
The Teamster’s suit joins a long line of others brought by state and local governments, consumers, providers and others. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has a hearing regarding consolidation of dozens of those suits scheduled for Thursday.
Frank Schirripa of Hach Rose Schirripa & Cheverie LLP, the Teamsters' attorney, said they're hoping to be included if the panel clears consolidation.
Schirripa added that the Teamsters largely represent construction workers and other blue collar workers, who are more likely to get hurt on the job than workers with desk jobs.
“The addictive nature of these drugs not being adequately disclosed and over marketing of these drugs has particularly harmed construction workers because they're the ones who are getting hurt in their daily jobs,” he told Law360. “We’re adamant about pursuing justice here.”
The drugmakers denied wrongdoing and stressed that they're dedicated to fighitng the opioid crisis.
“Teva denies having engaged in any conduct that would give rise to liability with respect to this lawsuit,” the company said in a statement.
Purdue also denied the claims, adding that “we are deeply troubled by the opioid crisis and we are dedicated to being part of the solution.”
Janssen stressed the need to take on the public health issues raised by opioids while balancing the need for patients to have painkillers.
“We believe the allegations in lawsuits against our company are both legally and factually unfounded,” Janssen said in a statement. “Addressing opioid abuse will require collaboration among many stakeholders and we will continue to work with federal, state and local officials to support solutions.”
Allergan said its opioids make up a tiny portion of the market — .08 percent of opioid prescriptions in 2016 — and that its products were ones it acquired through acquisitions.
“Allergan has a history of supporting — and continues to support — the safe, responsible use of prescription medications,” the company said in a statement. “This includes opioid medications, which when sold, prescribed and used responsibly, play an appropriate role in pain relief for millions of Americans.”
Representatives for Abbott, Endo and the distributors didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The Teamsters are represented by David R. Cheverie and Frank Schirripa of Hach Rose Schirripa & Cheverie LLP.
Counsel information for the defendants was not immediately available.
The case is Teamsters Health Service And Insurance Plan Local 404 V. Purdue Pharma, Lp Et Al, case number 1:17-cv-12342, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. -
Lorain County commissioners to sue drug companies over opioid epidemic
Nov 29, 2017 | The Morning Journal News (OH)
By Keith Reynolds
Lorain County commissioners voted unanimously Nov. 29 to bring in an outside counsel to file suit against various pharmaceutical companies for their part in the county’s opiate crisis.
This decision came on the heels of a lawsuit filed by the city of Elyria on Nov. 28 in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.
The filing names Purdue Pharma L.P., Purdue Pharma Inc., The Purdue Frederick Company Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., Cephalon Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals, Allergans PLC, Actavis Inc., Watson Laboratories Inc., Actavis LLC, Actavis Pharma Inc., Endo Health Solutions Inc., McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc., Amerisourcebergen Corporation, Mallinckrodt PLC and Mallinckrodt LLC as defendants.
Elyria joins Lorain, which on June 29, flied a suit naming many of the same defendants.
The law firm that will prepare the county suit is New York-based Napoli Shkolnik PLLC.
According to the firm’s website, it was involved in an $816 million settlement for first responders injured by toxic dust at the former site of the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Legislation hiring the firm was scheduled for a Nov. 15 vote, but the commissioners tabled it pending an executive session in which members hammered out details of what the firm would be doing.
Before the vote, Commissioner Matt Lundy thanked his fellow commissioners Lori Kokoski and Ted Kalo, and Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will for their work in assisting in the case.
“The opioid epidemic has hit this county very hard,” Lundy said. “You’ve seen throughout the last couple months a lot of counties, a lot of cities coming forward to enter into litigation against the manufacturers and the distributors.”
According to Lundy, the situation reminded him of when tobacco companies executives were called to testify before congressional panels and said under oath that nicotine is not addictive.
“Unfortunately, the opioids that have been manufactured and distributed are addictive,” he said. “Clearly, manufacturers were misleading in their representation, misrepresenting the addiction risk, also deceptively presenting the risk and benefits of opioids to make them appear safer.
“Those are issues that, obviously, (are) brought up in the litigation.”
Lundy said these companies were fraudulent and deceptive in their marketing of these drugs which directly caused harm to the county.
The suit filed Nov. 28 by Elyria asks the court to prohibit the companies and their employees from engaging in “unfair or deceptive practices in violation of law,” as well as pay the costs of the opioid epidemic, create an abatement fund to abate the crisis and to pay actual damages.
It also asks the defendants to pay for damages including medical care costs for those affected by the crisis; treatment, rehab and counseling costs; the cost of treating infants born addicted to opioids; the costs for giving care to children whose parents are incapacitated due to opioids; and costs for law enforcement and public safety connected to the crisis.
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Local lawyer plans to take on drug companies
Nov 30, 2017 | The Moulton Advertiser (AL)
By John David Palmer
The U.S. is in the midst of what many are calling an opioid epidemic and one local attorney is asking the Moulton City Council to hire him along with a Florida law firm to seek reparations from the pharmaceutical companies that distribute the drugs at the root of the public health crisis.
Moulton attorney Mark Dutton has teamed up with a Pensacola law firm to develop a groundbreaking legal theory that they believe will win the case.
According to legal documents, attorneys intend to present a damage model designed to abate the public health and safety crisis. This damage model may take the form of money damages or equitable remedies. The purpose of the lawsuit is to seek reimbursement of the costs accrued fighting the opioid epidemic.
The lawsuit, Dutton says, is unique in that this is the first time to his knowledge of pharmaceutical companies being tried for creating a public nuisance through lax distribution policies.
“As far as I can tell, there has never been a lawsuit like this before,” Dutton said.
He says that under the law, a nuisance can be more than junk cars parked on an unkempt lawn. In this case, a nuisance can come in the form of additional expenses accrued by cities and towns dealing with the repercussions of opioids flooding the streets. This can be anything from the drug overdose kits that some officials must carry or simply having to hire extra police.
“If they were concerned less with profits, we would have less of a problem with abuse and addiction,” Dutton said.
The Pensacola law firm Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor, PA will serve as lead counsel, but Dutton says he will try to get involved with the case as much as he can because he finds the case interesting.
“My main job will be as a contact, but I will work on the case as much as they let me,” Dutton said.
According to legal documents, attorneys working on the case are to be awarded 30 percent of the recovery. There is to be no fee or reimbursement of litigation expenses if there is no recovery.
“It would not be against any doctors or local healthcare providers, just the pharmaceutical companies,” Dutton said. “It might get the city some good publicity.”
If successful, the city could benefit financially from the lawsuit, though, it is too early, Dutton says, to know how much.
“It really will be a good move for the city and there’s no risk involved,” Dutton said.
No council members voiced opposition to the request, but they agreed to postpone discussions until the next work session to allow for adequate time to study the details.
Councilman Jason White called it a “win, win” scenario, while Councilman Brent White expressed interest because of the harm he sees caused by opioid abuse working for the Lawrence County Department of Human Resources.
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Weber County plans to sue opioid manufacturers and distributors
Nov 30, 2017 | Standard Examiner (UT)
By Cathy Mckitrick
In light of the nation’s raging opioid epidemic, Weber County officials approved taking legal action against pharmaceutical companies and distributors of the highly addictive drugs.
During their Tuesday night meeting, Weber’s three commissioners voted unanimously to pass a resolution on the issue, making them the third county, behind Salt Lake and Utah, in the state to do so this month.
“There is a tremendous amount of momentum here and by counties all across the country in response to the overwhelming costs that counties bear because of the crisis,” Commissioner Kerry Gibson said. “Weber has significant impacts and a unique story to tell. We struggle with those from both a budgetary and human perspective. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t have a personal connection to someone who has struggled with this type of addiction. It touches all of us.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 215 million opioid prescriptions were filled in the U.S. in 2016, and nearly 91 people die nationwide from opioid overdoses each day.
In 2014, nearly one in three Utah adults were prescribed an opioid for pain, and that year Utah ranked fourth in the U.S. for opioid overdose deaths — on average, six Utahans per week died from overdosing on prescription opioids.
Each day, over 1,000 people across the U.S. are treated in emergency departments for misuse of prescription opioids.
Prescription opioids include morphine, methadone, buprenorphine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone. Brand names include Demerol, OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan, Tylox, Vicodin and others. Heroin is an illegal opioid that many pursue after no longer being able to access the more costly prescription opiates.
According to opidemic.org, 80 percent of heroin users in Utah — or four in five — started off taking prescription opioids.
“About 5 percent of the world’s population lives in the U.S. and yet we prescribe about 95 percent of all opioids. This is a marketing problem,” Gibson said, adding that opioid dangers have been proven yet ignored by drug companies.
Litigation that will result from Tuesday’s action is still unclear. Gibson said those details have yet to be determined. But according to the resolution, Weber County has the authority to sue on behalf of the public under various legal theories that include false advertising, abating a public nuisance, and violations of the federal RICO Act and the Utah Pattern of Unlawful Activity Act.
The resolution has a soft date of Jan. 31, 2018, for Weber County to commence action.
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They Get Us Coming and Going: Big Pharma is Set to Profit From Fixing the Problem it Created
Nov 29, 2017 | The Ring of Fire Network
By KJ McElrath
According to the final report of the White House Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, the pharmaceutical industry is a primary reason for the nation’s current addiction crisis. However, as state and local governments file lawsuitsagainst pharmaceutical companies and drug distributors, the Federal government is gearing up to line the pockets of Big Pharma so that the industry can start working to solve the opioid addiction crisis that it created.
Considering the intimate relationship between the buffoon in the White House and his cronies and Big Business of every stripe, it should come as no surprise that Trump is pushing for a new partnership between the taxpayer-funded National Institutes of Health and Big Pharma to deal with the problem by developing “nonaddictive” pain meds and new treatments for opioid addiction.
In short, Big Pharma created the problem by over-promoting its drugs on an unsuspecting public, lying about the effectiveness and the risks, and more. Big Pharma is largely responsible for the disease – and now, we the taxpayers are going to have the dubious privilege of paying the industry to come up with a solution.
This farce began in September with a closed-door meeting in New Jersey between pharmaceutical industry representatives and officials from the FDA and NIH. Among the corporate attendees: Allergan, Johnson & Johnson and Purdue Pharma, all three of which have been named in lawsuits or are being investigated in more than three dozen states. Purdue, maker of Oxycontin, recently proposed a settlement conference with several state attorneys general in an attempt to bring an end to the investigations and the lawsuits.
While most of those who attended the meeting lauded the proposal, a professor from the Georgetown University Medical Center called it a “bad idea.” Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman is the director of a project known as Pharmed Out, which aims to raise public awareness of Big Pharma’s marketing practices. “We shouldn’t be asking the industry that caused the opioid epidemic to solve it,” she says. “They are unlikely to come up with any solutions that don’t make themselves a profit. The answer to the opioid epidemic is not more pills.”
That is stating the obvious. While Purdue, one of companies most responsible for creating the epidemic, is touting “abuse-deterrent” opioids and the development of non-opioid pain relievers (from which they no doubt plan to charge premium prices), Fugh-Berman is not fooled. “Abuse-deterrent is a marketing term used to mislead,” she says. “At least half of prescribers think that abuse-deterrent means less addictive.” In fact, all it means is that they are more difficult to crush into powder for snorting or injecting. It doesn’t solve the problem at all; “Swallowing them….is the most common way of abusing opioids,” Fugh-Berman points out.
History has shown that Big Pharma is not interested in finding cures or solving any problems. The business model is based on treatments that can be sold over and over again, often for issues that the industry itself has created. Now, thanks to the most corrupt Administration in history, that business strategy is going to get a nice little boost – courtesy of the American taxpayer.
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions creates new DEA office to 'turn tide' in opioid crisis
Nov 29, 2017 | USA TODAY
By Kevin Johnson
For the first time in 20 years, the Drug Enforcement Administration is opening a new field office, in an attempt to turn the tide in the worsening opioid crisis that has fueled record-setting overdose fatalities across the country.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Wednesday that the DEA's 22nd field office would be located in Louisville, Ky., part of a region plagued by the abuse of the prescription painkiller, heroin and the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl.
At least 90 federal drug agents will be redeployed to the Louisville office to conduct enforcement operations throughout Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee.
"I know that this crisis is daunting," Sessions said, referring to government estimates that 64,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year. "But we can, and we will turn the tide."
As part of the Trump campaign's against opioid abuse, Sessions also announced that federal grants totaling $12 million will be directed to hard-hit areas –from New England to Appalachia – to fund anti-heroin task forces and to aid in the break-up of methamphetamine operations.
Sessions also said that all 94 U.S. attorney offices across the country would designate officials to coordinate opioid enforcement operations in their regions.
"We will not cede one city, one neighborhood or one street corner to gangs, violence or drugs,'' the attorney general said.
Last month, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Justice officials were reviewing whether to seek a repeal of 2016 legislation supported by the drug industry that ultimately hampered law enforcement's ability to stop suspicious shipments of opioids that have been driving surges in overdose deaths.
On Wednesday, Sessions said he was "dubious" about the law when it was considered while he was an Alabama senator. While the attorney general declined to say whether he would lobby to repeal the law, he said he would support "new legislation'' to counter suspicious sales of opioids.
Earlier this year, The Washington Post and 60 Minutes reported that the DEA was essentially handcuffed by the law pushed by Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., who later became President Trump’s nominee to oversee national drug policy.
Marino ultimately withdrew his name from consideration in wake of the public disclosures about his advocacy for the law.
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Trump's Counselor Kellyanne Conway Is Now Leading His Opioids Strategy
Nov 30, 2017 | Buzzfeed News
By Dan Vergano
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday announced that pollster Kellyanne Conway, 50, counselor to President Donald Trump, would oversee White House efforts to combat the opioid overdose epidemic.
More than 64,000 people died in the US of drug overdoses in 2016, largely from opioids such as heroin, fentanyl, and prescription painkillers. Trump declared a national public health emergency over the crisis in October, and calls have emerged for an opioids "czar" to lead crisis response efforts in the last year.
Looks like Conway has the job. Trump has asked her "to coordinate and lead the effort from the White House," Sessions said at a news conference in remarks that went beyond prepared ones from the event.
"It is a positive sign. She is a high-profile figure in the administration, showing the administration takes this seriously," opioid policy expert Andrew Kolodny of Brandeis University told BuzzFeed News.
But Kolodny noted the administration still hasn't named someone to head its Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), or released a strategy to combat the crisis (one is promised in February), or requested any money from Congress to fill the depleted national public health emergency fund — now down to $66,000 — to pay for its health emergency declaration.
"Stemming overdose deaths will take a broad interagency approach led by someone with a singular focus and extensive knowledge of the drivers of — and solutions to — the epidemic," former ONDCP official Regina LaBelle told BuzzFeed News by email. "Therefore, a Senate confirmed Director of National Drug Control Policy should lead this effort."
"It’s a national emergency — let’s treat it like one," she said.
At a congressional hearing in Baltimore on Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who headed a presidential report panel on the opioid crisis, had called the clamor for a US opioids czar "overblown." The steps needed to counter the overdose crisis are well understood, he said, starting with limiting overprescriptions of painkillers, cutting fentanyl exports from China, and providing the overdose remedy naloxone to communities; a czar, he added, isn't needed to kick-start this effort.
Christie's commission had released a final report earlier this month adding 56 recommendations for combating the opioids crisis to nine earlier ones from an interim report released this summer. Conway sat in on many of the panel's meetings and has been heavily involved in crafting the administration's response to the crisis. Sessions touted Conway's communication skills at the news conference, perhaps signaling an administration push for public service announcements aimed at changing public attitudes toward opioid addiction.
"The buck stops with the president," Christie had told the House Oversight Committee headed by Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, in his remarks on an opioids czar. "Congress also has to step up as well."
At the news conference on Wednesday, Sessions also announced $12 million in grants to state and local police departments, and the opening of a new Drug Enforcement Agency field office in Louisville, Kentucky, to combat illicit opioid use in Appalachia. He also ordered each US attorney's office to name an opioid coordinator.
"I know that this crisis is daunting — the death rates are stunning — and it can be discouraging," Sessions said. "But we will turn the tide."
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Nov 30, 2017 | WHBQ (Fox)
By Memphis, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071486?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2
Rough Transcript: the shelby county commissioner is moving ahead with their lawsuit. they voted to override the veto. this will allow the commission to move forward. the board is suing big pharmacy companies blaming them for the opioid crisis. the u.s. senate has approved the procedural vote on the tax bill. the fate is uncertain. all democrats are expected to vote against it and republicans can only lose two votes and still get it passed.
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Nov 30, 2017 | WJKT (Fox)
By Jackson, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071561?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2
Rough Transcript: continuing coverage this morning of the battle to tackle opioid abuse in shelby county.. finding common ground might be easier said than done. commission chairman heidi shafer wants a mediator to help her... and mayor mark luttrell end a fight. the disagreement is over a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies. she is also considering appealing a judge's ruling that said she didn't have the right to file the lawsuit in the first place. it's an ongoing political power battle that's exhausting her fellow commissioners. mark billingsley/shelby county commissioner "enough is enough. i'm concerned about the people dying in the community. but this is not the right way to do it." caitlin: cw 30 has learned mayor mark luttrell has reached out to shaffer - and isn't sure mediation is the way to go.
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Nov 30, 2017 | KRTV (CBS)
By Great Falls, MT
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071536?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2
Rough Transcript: cascade countyhas becomethe first county in montana to retain a law firm to fight the opioid crisis. kovacich (co-vuh-sitch) snipes law firmis representing the county in a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers. thesuit will allege manufacturers use negligent and fraudulent marketing tacticsthat are used to get the pills on the market. the county is seeking damages to help with recovery and the ability toprovide more resourcesthatwilladdress opioid abuse in cascade county.
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Nov 30, 2017 | KECI (NBC)
By Missoula, MT
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071537?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2
Rough Transcript: gallatin county is deciding whether to join a lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers. the county has poured an increasing amount of money and resources into dealing with the opioid epidemic. some claim pharmacuetical companies are to blame..after enticing doctors to over prescribe and over medicate. gallatin county commissioners say they must be held acountable. they will vote next tuesday.. on whether to join
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Nov 29, 2017 | WDKY (Fox)
By Lexington, KY
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071579?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2
Rough Transcript: kentucky is moving to the frontlines in the fight against opiods. just this month kentucky's attorney general filed a laswsuit againsa drug maker and ...lexington city leaders announced they're joing more than 30 counties in a lawsuit against prescription opioid distributors and manufacturers..le xington's mayor says that money will go to resources for addicts.
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Nov 30, 2017 | WFOX (Fox)
By Jacksonville, FL
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31071540?token=832ce1b8-dda0-4d24-9a5d-93f3b447eed2
Rough Transcript: attorney general jeff sessions plan includes $12 million for state and local law enforcement agencies to help them combat the opioid cris. attorney general jeff sessions says opioid -related deaths are at an all-time high and more needs to be done to combat the epidemic. >> we have never ever seen the death rates we are having today. 64,000 died last year. >> is working on three new initiatives including the first restructuring of drug enforcement agency field divisions in nearly 20 years. >> this is great and definitely a step in the right direction. >> doctor marcus, a specialist says it will take more to in this epidemic. the city of jacksonville is spending more than $1 million on the pilot program to end opioid use and they are considering a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies. he says even that will be enough to stop opioid abuse expect the needs to be a lot of effort to look outside the box and see what else is out there. >> the doctor tells us this opioid fight starts with physicians and he says there needs to be training implemented so the doctors know how to best manage patient's pain.
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