Preview Newsletter
Opioid Litigation Daily Media Report - 1/9/18
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More Indiana communities sue drug companies over opioids
Jan 8, 2018 | Associated Press
By Staff
Several more Indiana communities have joined the growing list of governments suing pharmaceutical companies and distributors over their roles in the opioid abuse crisis. -
Nearly a dozen Indiana communities sue opioid industry in new flurry of suits
Jan 8, 2018 | Indianapolis Business Journal (IN)
By John Russell
Nearly a dozen Indiana cities and counties have filed lawsuits in recent days against opioid makers and distributors, claiming the companies have flooded their communities with the addictive painkillers and engaged in deceptive marketing campaigns that helped lead to a growing crisis. -
More Indiana cities file lawsuits against distributors, manufacturers amid opioid crisis
Jan 8, 2018 | FOX 59 (IN)
By Staff
More Indiana cities and counties are joining Indianapolis, Bloomington, Lake County, and Monroe County in pursuing legal action against opioid distributors and manufacturers as the state deals with an ongoing drug crisis. -
Indiana counties, cities sue opioid distributors and manufacturers
Jan 8, 2018 | Modern Healthcare
By Alex Kacik
A slew of cities and counties in Indiana have joined the growing ranks of municipalities and states that have sued the major drug distributors for allegedly overlooking suspicious opioid prescriptions and fueling the abuse epidemic. -
City Files Federal Lawsuit Addressing Opioid Crisis
Jan 8, 2018 | Wabash Valley (IN)
By Staff
Terre Haute - The city of Terre Haute says "see you in court" to drug makers and distributors. -
Terre Haute, Vigo County sue opioid makers, distributors
Jan 8, 2018 | Tribune Star (IN)
By Lisa Trigg
Terre Haute and Vigo County have joined the growing list of Indiana cities and counties taking drug distributors and manufacturers to court over the opioid epidemic. -
Read the lawsuit: Jennings County seeks funds for financial burden of drug epidemic
Jan 9, 2018 | The Republic (IN)
By Mark Webber
Jennings County has become the latest of several Indiana counties and communities to file a federal lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors. -
Mahaska County participating in opioid lawsuit
Jan 8, 2018 | Oskaloosa Herald (IA)
By Angie Holland
Mahaska County has joined 34 other counties in the state of Iowa who have together filed a lawsuit against drug companies. -
Clay joins 35 counties in opioid lawsuit
Jan 9, 2018 | The Daily Reporter (IA)
By Joseph Hopper
The law firms of Simmons Hanly Conroy and Crueger Dickinson LLC filed the first Iowa federal court lawsuits Friday on behalf of Clay, Buena Vista, O’Brien and 33 other Iowan counties against pharmaceutical manufacturers to address the “opioid crisis.” -
McHenry County responds to opioid crisis by filing lawsuit against drug companies
Jan 8, 2018 | McHenry Times (IL)
By Caitin Nordahl
McHenry County is suing several pharmaceutical companies and physicians for allegedly deceptively marketing opioid prescription drugs and misrepresenting the addictive qualities of the drugs. -
County to pursue litigation tied to opioid crisis
Jan 8, 2018 | Albert Lea Tribune (MN)
By Sam Wilmes
Freeborn County retained legal counsel last week to pursue litigation related to the opioid crisis, which has been declared a national epidemic. -
Otsego County to decide on joining opioid lawsuit
Jan 8, 2018 | UpNorthLive (MI)
By Connor Hansen
Several Michigan cities and counties, including some here in northern Michigan, have banned together to file lawsuits against dozens of pharmaceutical companies they believe had a role in creating widespread opioid addiction problem. -
Native American tribes file federal lawsuit against opioid industry
Jan 8, 2018 | Bismarck Tribune (ND)
By Amy Dalrymple
Three Native American tribes from the Dakotas filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against major opioid manufacturers and distributors, seeking monetary damages for an epidemic that has had devastating impacts for tribal members. -
Baltimore Co. to sue opioid manufacturers, distributors
Jan 9, 2018 | The Baltimore Sun (MD)
By Jim Joyner
Baltimore County has announced plans to file a federal lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors of opioids. -
Baltimore County to sue pharmaceutical companies for pushing opioid prescriptions
Jan 8, 2018 | WBAL (MD)
By Jenny Fulgniti
Baltimore County announced Monday that it intends to sue several pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors of opioids. -
Baltimore County to file suit against opioid manufacturers, distributors
Jan 8, 2018 | Baltimore Business Journal (MD)
By Morgan Eichensehr
Baltimore County plans to file a federal lawsuit against several pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors of opioids, seeking monetary damages incurred related to the ongoing opioid crisis. -
Oswego County joins growing list of counties suing over opioid crisis
Jan 9, 2018 | WRVO Public Media (NY)
By Payne Horning
Oswego County is the latest New York county to file a lawsuit against drug manufacturers and distributors for the costs its incurred dealing with the opioid crisis. -
Allegheny County seeks proposals to recoup money lost to opioid crisis
Jan 8, 2018 | Trib Live (PA)
By Theresa Clift
Allegheny County is planning to hire legal counsel to explore whether the county should file a lawsuit to recoup money lost to the opioid crisis, as several other Western Pennsylvania counties have done. -
Dozens of Lawsuits Being Filed Over the Opioid Epidemic
Jan 8, 2018 | Healthline
By Gigen Mammoser
The Cherokee Nation is taking legal action against the negative impact of opioids on their community. The lawsuits are similar to the fight against Big Tobacco. -
County may join lawsuit against drug makers
Jan 8, 2018 | News Topic (NC)
By Virginia Annable
Caldwell County could be the next to join a growing list of counties signed on to a national lawsuit against drug companies in the midst of the opioid crisis. -
New Plan to Fight the Opioid Epidemic: Sue the Hell Out of Big Pharma Like Big Tobacco
Jan 9, 2018 | Daily Beast
By Daniel McGraw
In the next two years, the opioid epidemic is estimated to cost the United States a trillion dollars and kill almost 100,000 Americans. President Donald Trump declared it a public health crisis this year but has not asked Congress for additional money to fight the scourge. -
Misleading marketing of opioids has cost local communities
Jan 9, 2018 | Seattle Times (EDITORIAL)
By Editorial Board
Purdue Pharma’s aggressive and deceitful marketing of its painkiller OxyContin should have ended more than a decade ago, when the company pleaded guilty to misleading regulators, the public and doctors about the addictiveness of the drug. -
Holding Big Pharma Accountable for Opioid Epidemic (EDITORIAL)
Jan 8, 2018 | Timesunion (NY)
By Dan McCoy (Albany County, NY Executive)
Last week I was proud to file federal litigation against national pharmaceutical manufacturers for their role in creating the opioid crisis affecting Albany County and our nation. Joining me was Elizabeth Smith from the nationally respected law firm Motley Rice. The purpose of this action is to hold these companies accountable for their role in deceptive tactics that have resulted in addiction, overdoses and deaths. -
Opioid litigation may be one way to help stem societal problem (EDITORIAL)
Jan 8, 2018 | The Daily News (IL)
By Staff
The Marquette County Board recently decided to throw its support behind a growing number of municipalities that are picking a legal fight with the “big pharma” industry. -
Madison County's judiciary chair wants to prevent opioid litigation from resembling asbestos docket
Jan 8, 2018 | Madison - St. Clair Record (IL)
By Ann Maher
Madison County Board member Mike Walters came out forcefully against modeling potential opioid litigation after the type of lawsuits the county is most well known for, saying the asbestos docket has been a "terrible drain" in terms of businesses that either want to leave or not locate here at all. -
Stop Calling it an Opioid Crisis—It’s a Heroin and Fentanyl Crisis
Jan 9, 2018 | CATO Institute
By Jeffrey A. Singer
The National Center for Health Statistics reported last month that a record 63,600 deaths occurred in 2016 due to overdoses. Digging deeper into that number shows over 20,000 of those deaths were due to the powerful drug fentanyl, more than 15,000 were caused by heroin, and roughly 14,500 were caused by prescription opioids, although it has been known for years that, in most cases of prescription opioid deaths, the victims had multiple other potentiating drugs onboard. The rest of the deaths were due to methamphetamines, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and methadone. -
News 10 This Morning
Jan 9, 2018 | WTHI (CBS)
By Terra Haute, IN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813649?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
WRTV News: Good Morning Indiana
Jan 9, 2018 | WRTV (ABC)
By Indianapolis, IN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813768?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
Channel 11 News at 6AM
Jan 9, 2018 | WPXI (NBC)
By Pittsburgh, PA
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813784?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
10 This Morning at 6am
Jan 9, 2018 | WBNS (CBS)
By Columbus, OH
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813786?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
7&4 News Today at 6AM
Jan 9, 2018 | WPBN (NBC)
By Traverse City, MI
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813790?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
WKRG News 5 at 4:30AM
Jan 9, 2018 | WKRG (CBS)
By Mobile, AL
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813794?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
ABC2 News Good Morning Maryland 4:30AM
Jan 9, 2018 | WMAR (ABC)
By Baltimore, MD
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813797?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
UpNorth Live Tonight
Jan 8, 2018 | WGTQ (ABC)
By Traverse City, MI
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813800?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
KGNS News at 6:30 PM
Jan 9, 2018 | KYLX (CBS)
By Laredo, TX
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813801?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
ABC 7 News at 6:00
Jan 8, 2018 | WJLA (ABC)
By Washington, DC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813805?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
CBS4 News at Six
Jan 8, 2018 | WTTV (CBS)
By Indianapolis, IN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813809?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4 -
News 10 at 5PM
Jan 9, 2018 | WTHI (CBS)
By Terre Haute, IN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813817?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Midwest (IN, IA, IL, MN, MI, ND)
Northeast (MD, NY, PA)
Southwest (OK)
Southeast (NC)
Commentary and FYIs
Broadcast Media Coverage
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More Indiana communities sue drug companies over opioids
Jan 8, 2018 | Associated Press
By Staff
Several more Indiana communities have joined the growing list of governments suing pharmaceutical companies and distributors over their roles in the opioid abuse crisis.
Noblesville, Terre Haute and Vigo and Jennings counties each have filed federal lawsuits in recent days against more than 20 defendants accusing them of racketeering, deceptive trade practices, fraud and conspiracy to market and distribute opioids unlawfully in their communities.
The defendants include Cardinal Health, McKesson Corp., Purdue Pharma, and Teva Pharmaceuticals. The companies have denied any wrongdoing.
Other Indiana communities that filed suit include Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Hammond, Bloomington, Columbus, Muncie, New Albany, Jeffersonville, Kokomo and Lake and Monroe counties.
Indianapolis attorney Chou-il Lee tells the Terre Haute Tribune-Star the federal complaints will be consolidated into multi-district litigation in the Northern District of Ohio.
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Nearly a dozen Indiana communities sue opioid industry in new flurry of suits
Jan 8, 2018 | Indianapolis Business Journal (IN)
By John Russell
Nearly a dozen Indiana cities and counties have filed lawsuits in recent days against opioid makers and distributors, claiming the companies have flooded their communities with the addictive painkillers and engaged in deceptive marketing campaigns that helped lead to a growing crisis.
The lawsuits, filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, represent a growing effort to take on the powerful opioid industry. Many of the lawsuits are nearly identical, claiming the manufacturers aggressively pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids, and falsely represented to doctors that patients would only rarely succumb to drug addiction.
The complaints also say the companies aggressively advertised to and persuaded doctors to prescribe highly addictive painkillers, and “turned patients into drug addicts for their own corporate profit.”
Plaintiffs include Fort Wayne, Noblesville, Greenwood, Terre Haute, New Castle, Chandler and Atlanta, as well as Harrison County, Vigo County and Jennings County.
More will likely be filed in coming days, said Manuel Herceg, an attorney with Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Indianapolis, which is leading a consortium of about a half-dozen law firms engaged in the effort.
Plaintiffs in many of the latest suits include opioid makers Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Jannsen Pharmaceuticals, as well as distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma—which produces OxyContin and has no affiliation to Purdue University—is facing dozens of similar lawsuits. The companies have denied any wrongdoing.
When asked why the suits were filed at nearly the same time, Herceg said: “We’ve received information from our clients and filed accordingly.”
He said the suits eventually would be consolidated in a multi-district litigation effort in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, before Judge Dan Polster.
That effort will include lawsuits from other states, including Ohio and Kentucky, he said. He declined to predict how many suits eventually would be filed.
Many of the suits claim the industry knowingly fueled a black market in addictive medicines that led to overdoses and put a financial stress on community services.
Other law firms outside the consortium have filed similar suits in recent days, include Cohen & Malad LLP, which in November sued opioid makers and distributors on behalf of the city of Indianapolis, blaming them for a “dramatic increase in the use of prescription opioid pain medications” by using deceptive marketing tactics and through their “failure to identify, report, and stop suspicious orders of those medications.”
The city of Kokomo, in its lawsuit, stated that between 2011 and 2015, the number of non-fatal emergency department visits due to opioid overdoses in Howard County increased by more than 61 percent. Between 2015 and 2017, calls for service in Kokomo coded “overdose in progress” increased by 134 percent.
“This incredible harm to not just the victims of opioid addiction, but the communities in which those individuals live, stems directly from the Defendants’ intentional choice to pump opioids into Plaintiff’s Community in violation of state and federal law,” the suit stated.
Pointing a finger at the industry, the lawsuit further stated: “Despite the clear evidence before their eyes—that the number of opioids being sent into communities like City of Kokomo could not be explained or justified by any conceivable medical need, but could only be explained by a flourishing and rapidly expanding black market for opioids—these wholesale distributors continued to push their substances into the community, willingly and knowingly becoming participants in the black market they were fueling.”
The suits also claim that Indiana has been especially hard hit by the opioid epidemic. The state ranks ninth in the country for its opioid prescription rate per capita, and opioid overdose rates have more than doubled in the past three years.
Nationally, dozens of states, cities and counties—including Ohio, Mississippi, Orange County in California, and the Washington cities of Seattle, Everett and Tacoma—have sued the pharmaceutical companies.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in 2015, drug overdoses killed more than 52,000 Americans. Most involved prescription opioids such as OxyContin or Vicodin or related illicit drugs such as heroin and fentanyl. People with addictions often switch among the drugs.
Healthcare Distribution Alliance, an industry group representing distributors, has said such lawsuits are misguided. The alliance is a national trade association representing distributors, including McKesson, Cardinal and AmerisourceBergen. It said its members are “deeply engaged in the issue and are taking our own steps to be part of the solution—but we aren’t willing to be scapegoats.”
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More Indiana cities file lawsuits against distributors, manufacturers amid opioid crisis
Jan 8, 2018 | FOX 59 (IN)
By Staff
More Indiana cities and counties are joining Indianapolis, Bloomington, Lake County, and Monroe County in pursuing legal action against opioid distributors and manufacturers as the state deals with an ongoing drug crisis.
The cities of Noblesville and Greenwood, as well as Harrison and Vigo Counties, filed lawsuits against defendants Purdue Pharma, Endo Health, Teva and distributors such as AmerisourceBergen, McKesson Corporation and Cardinal Health, among others.
According to their lawsuits, the opioid crisis was foreseeable and a direct result of their “intentional choice to pump opioids” into the community “in violation of state and federal law.”
According to the lawsuit filed by the city of Noblesville: “The manufacturers aggressively pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids, falsely representing to doctors that patients would only rarely succumb to drug addiction. These pharmaceutical companies aggressively advertised to and persuaded doctors to prescribe highly addictive, dangerous opioids, turned patients into drug addicts for their own corporate profit.”
According to the lawsuits, the cities / counties took a financial hit due to the increased costs associated with law enforcement and public safety; providing care for children whose parents suffer from opioid-related disability; medical care for patients suffering from opioid-related addiction; and costs for rehabilitation services.
Indianapolis attorney Irwin Levin said 75 to 100 similar lawsuits have been filed across the country, some of which have been successfully litigated.
The Healthcare Distribution Alliance represents the three distribution companies and says the distributors are not to blame. “We don’t make medicines, market medicines, prescribe medicines, or dispense them to consumers. Given our role, the idea that distributors are solely responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and how it is regulated,” said Senior Vice President John Parker.
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Indiana counties, cities sue opioid distributors and manufacturers
Jan 8, 2018 | Modern Healthcare
By Alex Kacik
A slew of cities and counties in Indiana have joined the growing ranks of municipalities and states that have sued the major drug distributors for allegedly overlooking suspicious opioid prescriptions and fueling the abuse epidemic.
Harrison County, Terre Haute, Fort Wayne, Muncie and the town of Atlanta filed lawsuits Friday and Monday accusing the "big three" wholesale drug distributors—AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson Corp.—of fulfilling massive opioid orders and not warning authorities of the likely diversion of the addictive pain pills. The counties, cities and communities claim they've been left to pick up the pieces of the onslaught of the epidemic while the distributors profit.
"Despite the clear evidence before their eyes—that the number of opioids being sent into communities like the plaintiff's community could not be explained or justified by any conceivable medical need, but could only be explained by a flourishing and rapidly expanding black market for opioids—these wholesale distributors continued to push their substances into the community, willingly and knowingly becoming participants in the black market they were fueling," the Harrison County lawsuit reads.
Indiana, which has the ninth-highest opioid prescription rate of 109.1 per 100 persons, saw its opioid overdose deaths increase 52% from 2015 to 2016—with overdose deaths more than doubling doubled in the last three years, according to the lawsuit. Harrison County's rate of opioid prescriptions in 2016 was 91.7 per 100 persons while the number of nonfatal emergency department visits related to opioid overdoses nearly doubled from 2012 to 2015.
Cardinal Health contested the "misguided" lawsuits because it does not manufacture, promote or prescribe prescription medications to the public and actively combats the opioid diversion.
AmerisourceBergen echoed that narrative, saying that it mitigates the diversion of opioids without interfering with doctors' clinical decisions by halting tens of thousands of suspicious orders, refusing service to customers deemed as diversion risks and providing daily reports to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Vigo County and the cities of Greenwood, Noblesville and Kokomo filed related lawsuits Monday that also target opioid manufacturers including Purdue Pharmaceuticals, claiming that they misled physicians and patients through allegedly deceptive marketing practices. The manufacturers allegedly inflated opioids' benefits while downplaying their addictive nature, according to the lawsuits.
"The manufacturers aggressively pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids, falsely representing to doctors that patients would only rarely succumb to drug addiction," the Vigo County lawsuit reads. "These pharmaceutical companies aggressively advertised to and persuaded doctors to prescribe highly addictive, dangerous opioids, turned patients into drug addicts for their own corporate profit."
In similar cases, Purdue has vigorously denied such allegations but said it is committed to working collaboratively to find solutions.
The defendants are trying to shield themselves from liability via the "learned intermediary" defense by saying the physicians are the ones prescribing the medications, legal experts said. It can work in some cases, but not when the manufacturer presents false data and studies and recommendations to the middlemen, they said.
Indiana is one of many states that has gone after opioid distributors and manufacturers with the intent to end the alleged negligence, recover the cost of responding to the crisis and start an "abatement fund" to pay for programs addressing the epidemic. -
City Files Federal Lawsuit Addressing Opioid Crisis
Jan 8, 2018 | Wabash Valley (IN)
By Staff
Terre Haute - The city of Terre Haute says "see you in court" to drug makers and distributors.
The city and Vigo County are the latest municipalities to file a federal lawsuit to address the opioid crisis. The lawsuits that have been filed so far charge the drug companies knew there was a problem, and failed to report and stop suspicious opioid orders.
City Attorney Eddie Felling tells WTWO News that no monetary damages have been established at this time, but eventually, that will be part of the case.
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Terre Haute, Vigo County sue opioid makers, distributors
Jan 8, 2018 | Tribune Star (IN)
By Lisa Trigg
Terre Haute and Vigo County have joined the growing list of Indiana cities and counties taking drug distributors and manufacturers to court over the opioid epidemic.
Federal lawsuits were filed Monday in the Terre Haute Division of the Southern District of Indiana against 23 defendants accused of racketeering, corrupt business influence, negligence, deceptive trade practices, fraud and conspiracy to market and distribute opioids unlawfully in the community.
“It’s clear the opioid epidemic has created a situation where municipalities are left with trying to find ways to deal with the scourge,” said attorney Chou-il Lee of Indianapolis law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister.
The lawsuits allege the manufacturers and distributors had the responsibility to monitor, detect, investigate, refuse and report suspicious orders of prescription opiates, but failed to do that.
Citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s prescribing rates for U.S. counties in 2016, the suit states Vigo County had a prescription rate of about 104 per 100 people, which was well above the state average rate of 82.5.
“These wholesale distributors continued to push their substances into the community, willingly and knowingly becoming participants in the black market they were fueling,” the city’s suit states.
In November, the city Board of Public Works and Safety agreed to retain the Taft law firm to file suit on behalf of the city to cover costs incurred by the fire and police departments in responding to opioid overdoses.
The county leaders also agreed to retain the Taft firm on behalf of the county’s interests.
Lee pointed out proposals for a new Vigo County Jail includes areas related to opioid issues and addictions. The growing use and illegal sale of heroin in the community has been directly attributed to the opioid epidemic.
Many Indiana cities have already filed suit – including Fort Wayne, New Albany, Jeffersonville, and Columbus – against the same opioid manufacturers and distributors. Also filing suit in federal court on Monday were the Town of Atlanta, cities of Muncie and Kokomo, and Jennings County.
The federal complaints will be swept into a multi-district litigation that brings similar cases nationwide into the Northern District of Ohio, Lee said. That will allow consistency in settling each case, and damages will be based on the differing impact the opioid crisis proven in each area, he said.
Among the defendants named in the suits are Cardinal Health, Amersourcebergen Drug Corp., McKesson Corp., Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Johnson & Johnson and others. The suits will be amended to include the same defendants nationwide, Lee said.
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Read the lawsuit: Jennings County seeks funds for financial burden of drug epidemic
Jan 9, 2018 | The Republic (IN)
By Mark Webber
Jennings County has become the latest of several Indiana counties and communities to file a federal lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The 162-page document, submitted by attorney Richard E. Shevitz of Indianapolis, was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
As plaintiff, the Jennings County Commissioners are seeking to recover funds to address what has been described as an overwhelming financial burden in dealing with the drug epidemic.
Without specifying exact damages, the suit seeks reimbursement for:Medical care, therapy and related expenses.Counseling, treatment and rehabilitation.Treating infants born with opioid-related conditions.Caring for children whose parents are addicted.Law enforcement and public safety resources.
ln addition, the suit asks for attorney’s fees, as well as all other expenses related to the lawsuit.
“With the deaths, the overcrowding at the jail, the overdoses, we’re being backed into a corner that doesn’t leave us with a lot of choices,” Jennings County commissioner Matt Sporleder said.
Most of the damages were both foreseeable and caused by the defendants’ actions, the suit contends.
Manufacturer defendants named in the suit are Purdue Pharma, Cephalon Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Noramco Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals, Mallinckrodt PLC, Allergan PLC and Watson Pharmaceuticals.
Those companies sought to create a false perception of the safety and efficacy of opioids in the minds of medical professionals and the public, even going so far as to target veterans, the suit states.
Local impact
As an example of consequences, the suit states that non-fatal emergency rooms visits due to opioid overdoses rose in Jennings County from 39 in 2011 to 93 in 2015.
The rising numbers of opioid-related incidents have led to increased health care costs and a dramatic increase in social problems, including drug abuse and the commission of criminal acts, the suit states.
The litigation accuses drug manufacturers of deceptive marketing regarding appropriate opioid uses, risks and safety, as well as a failure to identify, report and stop suspicious orders.
Furthermore, the manufacturers allegedly encouraged more long-term and widespread usage of opioids, although they knew long-term use causes addiction, the lawsuit states.
Distributor defendants named in the litigation are AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp.
Together with the manufacturers, the distributors are accused of violations that fall under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Originally designed to combat organized crime, the RICO Act allows prosecution and civil penalties for racketeering activity performed as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise.
The Jennings County Commissioners were recruited by attorneys from the Cohen and Malad law office in Indianapolis to become part of the lawsuit, Sporleder said.
If the Indianapolis attorneys lose the case, county officials will not be liable for expenses, Sporleder said. But if they win, the county will receive a portion of the damages, he said.
String of lawsuits
Nearly a dozen Indiana cities and counties have filed lawsuits in recent days against opioid makers and distributors, claiming the companies have flooded their communities with the addictive painkillers and engaged in deceptive marketing campaigns that helped lead to a growing crisis.
The lawsuits, filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, represent a growing effort to take on the opioid industry. Many of the lawsuits are nearly identical, claiming the manufacturers aggressively pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids, and falsely represented to doctors that patients would only rarely succumb to drug addiction.
The complaints also say the companies aggressively advertised to and persuaded doctors to prescribe highly addictive painkillers, and “turned patients into drug addicts for their own corporate profit.”
Plaintiffs include Fort Wayne, Noblesville, Greenwood, Terre Haute, New Castle, Chandler and Atlanta, as well as Harrison County and Vigo County.
More will likely be filed in coming days, said Manuel Herceg, an attorney with Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Indianapolis, which is leading a consortium of about a half-dozen law firms engaged in the effort.
He said the suits eventually would be consolidated in a multi-district litigation effort in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, before Judge Dan Polster.
Forecasting the trend
The Jennings County lawsuit was filed one week after Bartholomew County Council member Mark Gorbett said during a public meeting that there would be an overwhelming number of suits being filed throughout Indiana in the months ahead regarding opioid drugs.
The former two-term sheriff said he anticipates drug manufacturers will eventually be held accountable by many units of government for opioid-related expenses.
Sporleder said he can only hope that Gorbett is right.
“I’m not even 80 percent certain they will be held accountable,” Sporleder said. “It’s all up to the courts.”
No court date has been set in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana for a Jennings County opioid case.
As to whether county officials in Vernon will receive damages, “it could be two years before we know anything,” Jennings County commissioner Matt Sporleder said.
A more immediate concern to the commissioners is trying to secure the financial means to establish and maintain an addiction-rehabilitation center, Sporleder said.
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Mahaska County participating in opioid lawsuit
Jan 8, 2018 | Oskaloosa Herald (IA)
By Angie Holland
Mahaska County has joined 34 other counties in the state of Iowa who have together filed a lawsuit against drug companies.
Neighboring counties including Marion and Monroe are also listed as filing suit in an effort to combat the opioid drug epidemic.
Law firms Crueger Dickinson LLC, Simmons Hanly Conroy and von Briesen and Roper have filed the suit on behalf of the 35 counties currently participating.
According to a press release from the firms, the defendents in the lawsuits include Purdue Pharma L.P.; Purdue Pharma, Inc.; The Purdue Frederick Company, Inc.; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.; Cephalon, Inc.; Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc.; Endo Health Solutions, Inc.; Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Dr. Perry Fine; Dr. Scott Fishman and Dr. Lynn Webster.
Mahaska County Board of Supervisors Chair Henry "Willie" Van Weelden said participation was encouraged by the Iowa State Association of Counties.
"And the big push was to get a lot of counties on board early, so that kind of wakes up these big companies that they may not want a whole lot of bad publicity," he said, "that they may come through and make some offers of settlements or may change the way they do business."
Van Weelden said drug-related autopsies have to be sent to Des Moines, at a cost of around $1,500–$2,000; not to mention the costs associated with jailing drug users.
At some point in the future, Van Weelden said, county employees, likely including Sheriff Russell Van Renterghem and Auditor Susan Brown, will sit down with representatives of the legal counsel to go through billings and find the expenses related to opioids.
"They have experts that are good at doing that, and then depending on the dollar amount they come up with, that's how they're going to split the money out, by percentages, depending on the expenses you can tie into opioids," he said. "To me, there's not a lot to lose and you've got something to gain if it turns out it's a successful suit and if it's not, we're not out anything."
According to a draft engagement letter from Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC, Crueger Dickinson LLC and Von Briesen and Roper, the contingent attorneys' fees will be a gross fee of 25 percent of the recovery of funds. If no funds are recovered, or in he event of a loss at trial, no monies will be paid to counsel.
Erin Dickinson of Crueger Dickinson LLC, lead co-counsel, in the press release stated communities throughout Iowa are suffering as a result of the opioid epidemic.
"The lawsuits filed today [Jan. 5], the first in Iowa, are an important step toward holding those responsible for causing the worst drug epidemic we've ever seen," she said. "Together, with Simmons Hanly Conroy, we will work to get justice for the people of Iowa who have suffered unimaginable losses."
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Clay joins 35 counties in opioid lawsuit
Jan 9, 2018 | The Daily Reporter (IA)
By Joseph Hopper
The law firms of Simmons Hanly Conroy and Crueger Dickinson LLC filed the first Iowa federal court lawsuits Friday on behalf of Clay, Buena Vista, O’Brien and 33 other Iowan counties against pharmaceutical manufacturers to address the “opioid crisis.”
The defendants in the lawsuits include Purdue Pharma L.P.; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.; Cephalon Inc.; Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Erin Dickinson, of Crueger Dickinson LLC, and lead counsel in the lawsuit, previously appeared before the Iowa State Association of Counties when gathering the class, which ISAC encouraged counties to join. Clay County did so during a board of supervisors meeting. Dickinson said the filing marked an important step to “hold those responsible.”
“Communities throughout Iowa are suffering as a result of the opioid epidemic,” Dickinson said. “The lawsuits filed today — the first in Iowa — are an important step toward holding those responsible for causing the worst drug epidemic we’ve ever seen. Together with Simmons Hanly Conroy, we will work to get justice for the people of Iowa who have suffered unimaginable losses.”
Burlin Matthews, Clay County supervisor and second vice president of the 2018 ISAC board of directors, explained why Clay County became involved in the lawsuit.
“How it was presented to us at the state was the attorney generals have filed lawsuits against these five pharmaceutical companies because of the way it was marketed,” Matthews said. “And they did that with the (1998) tobacco lawsuit also. The unfortunate part of that lawsuit was it wasn’t shared with the counties. It was kept in Des Moines for the treasurer.
“Because opioids or any other type of illegal activity are going on, and people may be going to jail, we carry the cost for that. The idea of us as a county joining a class action lawsuit is, we would receive some costs that have already been expended for these people that have been arrested for opioids. ... It would provide an avenue for us if there’s a settlement to recover some costs directly through the jail and (county) attorney’s office. That’s the big impetus as far we’re concerned as a board.”
He also addressed the reasons for ISAC’s involvement in the lawsuit by supporting the class.
“The reason that ISAC got involved was because ISAC is the organization that looks out for us as counties, representing us on lots of different phases,” Matthews said. “Just because we’re a county doesn’t mean we stand alone. That’s where ISAC comes in. One of the things they were looking into was the impact this is having on counties in their local jails because counties are paying for it. ... They knew there would be some class action lawsuits filed not only by the attorney general’s office but other organizations, lawyers. Our (ISAC) CEO Bill Peterson actually interviewed different companies in this problem, interested in having Iowan counties join this process. ISAC is getting nothing out of it themselves. They are just the go between.”
The lawsuits state that prescription opioid deaths in Iowa have quadrupled in the last 20 years, and rates of prescription opioid overdose deaths since 1999 in Iowa have increased with Polk County — a class member — making up 25 percent of those deaths.
The lawsuit also states that “the defendants sought to create a false perception in the minds of physicians, patients, health care providers and health care payors that using opioids to treat chronic pain was safe for most patients and that the drugs’ benefits outweighed the risks. This was allegedly perpetrated through a civil conspiracy involving a coordinated, sophisticated and highly deceptive (unbranded to evade the extensive regulatory framework governing branded communications) promotion and marketing campaign that began in the late 1990s, became more aggressive around 2006, and is ongoing. Specifically, the complaints detail how the defendants allegedly poured significant financial resources into generating articles, continuing medical education courses and other ‘educational’ materials, conducting sales visits to doctors, and supporting a network of professional societies and advocacy groups — all of which were successful in the intended purpose of creating a new and phony ‘consensus’ supporting the long-term use of opioids.”
Other counties involved in the lawsuit include: Adair, Adams, Audubon, Benton, Bremer, Buchanan, Calhoun, Carroll, Cedar, Clayton, Clinton, Dallas, Delaware, Fayette, Hamilton, Hardin, Humboldt, Johnson, Lee, Mahaska, Marion, Mitchell, Monroe, Montgomery, Plymouth, Polk, Pottawattamie, Sac, Scott, Shelby, Sioux, Taylor and Winneshiek.
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McHenry County responds to opioid crisis by filing lawsuit against drug companies
Jan 8, 2018 | McHenry Times (IL)
By Caitin Nordahl
McHenry County is suing several pharmaceutical companies and physicians for allegedly deceptively marketing opioid prescription drugs and misrepresenting the addictive qualities of the drugs.
The suit, filed by McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally, is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and to prevent the companies and physicians named in the suit from continuing what the county sees as deceptive marketing practices, the county said in a release.
“One of my principal responsibilities as the McHenry County state’s attorney is to hold accountable those persons or entities whose conduct causes others to suffer,” Kenneally said in the release. “This lawsuit is an attempt to do just that.”
According to the release, McHenry County has lost more than 70 residents to the opioid crisis this past year. The county has also seen its costs for social services increase substantially, thanks to increased criminal justice, victimization, child productive services and prevention program costs, as well as significant losses in productivity, the release said.
DuPage, Kane and Will counties are also filing similar suits, the release said.
The McHenry County suit will be handled by Simmons Hanly Conroy and Meyers & Flowers on a contingency fee basis, meaning that costs related to the lawsuit will not come from the county’s taxpayers, the release said.
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County to pursue litigation tied to opioid crisis
Jan 8, 2018 | Albert Lea Tribune (MN)
By Sam Wilmes
Freeborn County retained legal counsel last week to pursue litigation related to the opioid crisis, which has been declared a national epidemic.
The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners Jan. 2 approved retaining law firms Lockridge Grindal Nauen and Gustafson Gluek to pursue litigation related to the crisis. The Freeborn County Attorney’s Office signed a retainer agreement with the law firms Dec. 28, formally retaining their services.
“The agreement provides for a contingent fee depending upon the gross amount recovered whether by settlement, trial or appeal,” a press release from the County Attorney’s Office stated. “If there is no monetary recovery obtained in the litigation, then the law firms receive no payment for their services. The county hopes to obtain payment for expenses resulting from opioid addiction and also hopes to receive assistance in responding to the expected future need for services for those suffering due to opioid addiction.”
The number of opioid-related treatment admissions in Freeborn County doubled from 2013 to 2016, said Freeborn County Attorney David Walker.
Potential litigation is expected to center on opioids manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. Freeborn County’s pursuit of litigation is an effort other counties, including Mower County, have undertaken to combat the epidemic.
United Way of Freeborn County Executive Director Ann Austin said when she began as chairwoman of the Drug Education Task Force in 2008, the focus of the task force’s work was on combating methamphetamine, but that changed during her tenure to opioids. She headed the organization until 2012.
“It was really becoming a crisis many, many years ago,” she said.
Developments such as the drug drop box at the Freeborn County Law Enforcement Center have helped address the issue by making it easier to dispose of drugs, she said.
“It really became a great opportunity for people to get them out of their home,” Austin said.
She said prescription drugs were sometimes stolen out of medicine cabinets, and she advised counting the number of pills in a container to ensure they are not being stolen.
She cautioned against using prescription drugs unless they are necessary.
“Drugs are not necessarily the first means of finding relief from what is ailing us,” Austin said.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, among the more than 64,000 estimated drug overdose deaths in 2016, the sharpest increase occurred among fatalities related to fentanyl and fentanyl analogs — synthetic opioids — with more than 20,000 overdose deaths.
President Donald Trump declared opioid overdoses a “health emergency” in October.
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Otsego County to decide on joining opioid lawsuit
Jan 8, 2018 | UpNorthLive (MI)
By Connor Hansen
Several Michigan cities and counties, including some here in northern Michigan, have banned together to file lawsuits against dozens of pharmaceutical companies they believe had a role in creating widespread opioid addiction problem.
On Tuesday morning, Otsego County will likely decide whether or not it will join and file its own lawsuit.
The county says while opioids create a public health risk, the drugs also drain local governments economically, especially for courts, law enforcement and EMS.
If the county moves forward, the law firms would do an assessment of how much the county has lost in damages.
“There is substantial cost incurred by municipalities in Michigan and really nationwide, and that I think is why counties have been eager to join into this litigation is to hopefully recover some of that cost and benefit their communities in that way," said Otsego County Administrator Rachel Frisch.
The county commission must first vote on whether it will go forward with the lawsuit, then on which group of law firms it will choose to have represent it.
The law firms involved hope this will also send a message to the pharmaceutical companies and force them to change their policies.
In northern Michigan, Grand Traverse and Chippewa Counties have already joined the lawsuit.
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Native American tribes file federal lawsuit against opioid industry
Jan 8, 2018 | Bismarck Tribune (ND)
By Amy Dalrymple
Three Native American tribes from the Dakotas filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against major opioid manufacturers and distributors, seeking monetary damages for an epidemic that has had devastating impacts for tribal members.
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe and the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate filed suit in U.S. District Court in South Dakota against 24 opioid industry defendants.
The tribes are represented by former North Dakota U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon and former South Dakota U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson who now lead the American Indian Law and Policy Group for national firm Robins Kaplan.
“The prescription opioid crisis has hit Indian Country hard,” said Purdon, adding Monday he is “hopeful” that other North Dakota tribes also will file suit.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said one in 10 Native Americans used prescription opioids for non-medical purposes in 2012, compared with 1 in 20 whites, the complaint notes.
Chairman Dave Flute of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, which crosses the South Dakota-North Dakota border, said opioid abuse is an epidemic for the tribe.
“It’s growing to the point of being catastrophic,” Flute said Monday. “It’s causing more health conditions, causing social dysfunction, family separations. It’s negatively impacting our social way of life.”PauseCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:00Stream TypeLIVELoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00Fullscreen00:00Mute
In South Dakota in 2015-16, Native Americans represented 17.8 percent of opioid use deaths and 28 percent of patients treated for opioid use, while making up about 9 percent of the state’s population.
“We’re challenged with an epidemic here. And we need to hold people accountable for their actions, all people,” Flute said. “Those that use, those that abuse, and those that are contributing the problem, and that includes the pharmaceutical companies.”
The 100-page complaint accuses the opioid industry defendants of fraudulently concealing and minimizing the addiction risk of prescription opioids. It also alleges the defendants failed to comply with federal prescription drug laws intended to prevent diversion of opioids and prevent their abuse.
The complaint seeks unspecified damages for allegations of deceptive trade practices, fraudulent and negligent conduct and alleged violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act. It also seeks injunctive relief that would prevent defendants from continuing unlawful conduct.
“The effect of opioids on South Dakota tribes has been horrific,” Johnson said in a statement. “This epidemic has overwhelmed our public-health and law-enforcement services, drained resources for addiction therapy and sent the cost of caring for children of opioid-addicted parents skyrocketing.”
The complaint seeks a jury trial to determine damages caused by the opioid epidemic, as well as punitive damages. It also seeks an “abatement fund,” which could pay for treatment programs.
Defendants in the case include pharmaceutical manufacturers Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Allergan, and pharmaceutical distributors McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp.
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Baltimore Co. to sue opioid manufacturers, distributors
Jan 9, 2018 | The Baltimore Sun (MD)
By Jim Joyner
Baltimore County has announced plans to file a federal lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors of opioids.
County officials say the suit — which is not yet filed — with seek monetary damages for expenses incurred by the county in its fight against opioid abuse. The county did not name companies that will be cited in the lawsuit.
"The opioid crisis has led to a significant increase of overdoses from heroin and prescription drug abuse," said Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz in a press release Monday.
He said officials believe "the pharmaceutical industry pressured and cajoled physicians into prescribing opioids for chronic pain, and vastly misrepresented the risk of addiction.
Officials say the county has incurred expenses relating to first-responder answering calls, drug and alcohol counseling and loss of economic revenue, among other costs.
"The desire to increase profits on the part of drug companies is a leading cause of our nation's health crisis," said Kamenetz, a Democrat who has announced a 2018 run for governor.
Baltimore County officials say they expect to file in federal District Court, and the county will enter a retainer agreement with the law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP. Officials said the firm already represents cities and counties in Michigan, Florida and Arizona in similar opioid litigation.
The agreement is subject to approval by the County Council. The council has recently discussed the state of the county's opioid response, and through a resolution directed the county health department to review the county's heroin and opioid programs.
Last week Anne Arundel County government filed a similar lawsuit in the county's Circuit Court against manufacturers and local prescribers, alleging that companies misled doctors and medical practices about their drugs' effects. Arundel hired the Washington D.C.-based firm Motley Rice, which is representing four states and 12 other municipalities or counties in similar suits, according to its website.
While Baltimore County did not release the names of the firms it intends to sue, Anne Arundel's suit cites some of the leading manufacturers of opioids, including Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of the opioid painkiller OxyContin.
Most of the companies named in Arundel's suit have declined comment — including Purdue. But one of the firms, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said in an email the company believes "the allegations in the lawsuits against our company are both legally and factually unfounded."
"Janssen has acted in the best interests of patients and physicians with regard to its opioid pain medicines, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about possible risks on every product label," said spokeswoman Jessica Smith.
Another company named in the Arundel suit, Percocet manufacturer Endo Pharmaceuticals, similarly said in a statement that the firm denies the allegations and that officials "intend to vigorously defend the Company." And the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a national organization representing primary pharmaceutical distributors, said they are "deeply engaged in the issue and are taking our own steps to be part of the solution — but we aren't willing to be scapegoats."
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Baltimore County to sue pharmaceutical companies for pushing opioid prescriptions
Jan 8, 2018 | WBAL (MD)
By Jenny Fulgniti
Baltimore County announced Monday that it intends to sue several pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors of opioids.
Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said that the county intends to file a federal lawsuit against several pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors of opioids, seeking monetary damages incurred by the county.
“The opioid crisis has led to a significant increase of overdoses from heroin and prescription drug abuse," Kamenetz said. “We believe that the pharmaceutical industry pressured and cajoled physicians into prescribing opioids for chronic pain, and vastly misrepresented the risk of addiction. The desire to increase profits on the part of drug companies is a leading cause of our nation’s health crisis, and we must fight back.”
In the first six months of 2017, Baltimore County had 187 substance-related deaths. The county said it has incurred expenses relating to first-responder intervention, drug and alcohol counseling programs, employee prescription expense, and loss of economic revenue to the county, among other costs.
The county said it expects to file its case in the federal District Court and seek consolidation for trial with other similar cases.
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Baltimore County to file suit against opioid manufacturers, distributors
Jan 8, 2018 | Baltimore Business Journal (MD)
By Morgan Eichensehr
Baltimore County plans to file a federal lawsuit against several pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors of opioids, seeking monetary damages incurred related to the ongoing opioid crisis.
he county is the latest to join cities and jurisdictions from across the country taking aim at the makers and distributors of highly-addictive painkillers. Over the past few years, more than 100 suits have been filed claiming damages related to expenses involved with battling the opioid crisis locally, including costs of first-responder intervention, drug and alcohol counseling programs, employee prescription expenses and loss of economic revenue. Maryland tracked over 1,800 opioid-related deaths last year alone — and in the first six months of 2017, Baltimore County data shows 187 substance-related deaths.
Baltimore County did not detail which pharmaceutical companies it was targeting with the lawsuit, nor the amount in damages it plans to seek. The county expects to file its case in federal District Court, and seek consolidation for trial with other similar cases. In Maryland, Montgomery County and Anne Arundel County have also announced their intent to sue.
The opioid crisis continues to claim thousands of lives all over the country, and many have blamed big-name pharmaceutical companies like Allergan, Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Purdue Pharma L.P. for their involvement in the wide distribution of prescription drugs known to be dangerous, like OxyContin. GBI Research, a firm which offers market analysis for the pharmaceutical industry, has projected the country's opioid market will grow to be worth $17.7 billion by 2021.
“The opioid crisis has led to a significant increase of overdoses from heroin and prescription drug abuse,” Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said in a statement. “We believe that the pharmaceutical industry pressured and cajoled physicians into prescribing opioids for chronic pain, and vastly misrepresented the risk of addiction. The desire to increase profits on the part of drug companies is a leading cause of our nation’s health crisis, and we must fight back.”
Baltimore County has entered into a retainer agreement with law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, subject to approval by the County Council. The firm currently represents cities and counties in Michigan, Florida and Arizona in opioid-related litigation as well. Baltimore-based firm Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White LLC would also serve as local counsel.
Other states involved in pending opioid lawsuits include Ohio, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Kentucky, New York, Illinois and more. It remains to be seen whether such suits will have an impact on the behavior of drug companies.
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Oswego County joins growing list of counties suing over opioid crisis
Jan 9, 2018 | WRVO Public Media (NY)
By Payne Horning
Oswego County is the latest New York county to file a lawsuit against drug manufacturers and distributors for the costs its incurred dealing with the opioid crisis.
In the lawsuit, Oswego County says it lost at least 67 residents to opioid-related overdoses between 2009 and 2014. And the number of emergency department admissions related to opioids in 2014 increased 113 percent from 2010.
It's financially strained Oswego County's government, including social services, the judicial system and law enforcement.
"These costs include unnecessary and excessive opioid prescriptions, substance abuse treatment services, ambulatory services, emergency department services, and inpatient hospital services, among others," said attorney Paul Hanly, who's representing Oswego County, in a press release.
So Oswego County is suing pharmaceutical companies and physicians, alleging they lied about the addictive nature of the drugs and failed to report suspicious activity that led to the widespread distribution of the pills.
Hanly says his firm Simmons Hanly Conroy has filed 170 similar cases nationwide.
"I think it’s probably the largest litigation in United States judicial history, frankly," Hanly said. "It potentially is going to involve thousands of counties and cities and states as well."
Hanly's firm is also representing Broome, Dutchess, Erie, Orange, Schenectady, Seneca, Suffolk and Sullivan counties.
Onondaga, Oneida and Tompkins counties are also pursuing legal action against opioid manufacturers.
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Allegheny County seeks proposals to recoup money lost to opioid crisis
Jan 8, 2018 | Trib Live (PA)
By Theresa Clift
Allegheny County is planning to hire legal counsel to explore whether the county should file a lawsuit to recoup money lost to the opioid crisis, as several other Western Pennsylvania counties have done.
The county issued a “request for qualifications” Dec. 8, seeking to hire legal counsel to first determine the economic impact that prescription opioids have had on the county and its residents.
Based on that, counsel will inform county Solicitor Andrew Szefi which manufacturers, distributors or prescribers have caused significant harm in the county, and how much the county might be able to recover in damages. The counsel will write a letter to Szefi with an opinion on whether the county should pursue such litigation, the request says.
Allegheny County had 650 drug overdose deaths in 2016, up from 424 in 2015, records show.
The county spends money when its ambulances pick up residents who have overdosed, on criminal cases in the county court system and for other expenses.
Former Allegheny County Councilman Ed Kress, after losing re-election, introduced the legislation to direct the county to explore the option Nov. 21.
“Other counties in this region have sued,” Kress said. “They're moving forward with these lawsuits, and I just think we need a place at the table so we get some justice for the people of this county.”
The council on Dec. 19 approved the motion, 10-4, with Republicans Tom Baker, Sam DeMarco, Cindy Kirk and Sue Means voting against.
Dimitrios Pantzoulas, who was a council member for just one meeting , was the only Republican aside from Kress who voted in favor.
“I think from a helpfulness perspective, it would be much better if we were taking and negotiating payments from the drug companies to actually commit to treatment or providing us the funds to do that, as opposed to suing them, which goes into the pockets of the trial lawyers and the federal agencies,” said DeMarco, R-North Fayette.
Beaver County was the first county in Western Pennsylvania to file such a lawsuit, which it did in October. Westmoreland and Washington counties filed similar lawsuits last month.
Westmoreland's seeks an unspecified amount in compensatory and punitive damages from 27 drug companies, distributors and several doctors.
The proposals are due to Allegheny County officials Jan. 29.
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Dozens of Lawsuits Being Filed Over the Opioid Epidemic
Jan 8, 2018 | Healthline
By Gigen Mammoser
The Cherokee Nation is taking legal action against the negative impact of opioids on their community. The lawsuits are similar to the fight against Big Tobacco.
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With their heritage at risk, the Cherokee Nation is fighting back against the United States’ opioid epidemic in court.
In April, the Cherokee Nation filed a sweeping lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies, distributors, and pharmacies involved with prescription opioids.
The companies named in the suit include national pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens. Major opioid medication distributors named include AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, and Cardinal Health.
The Cherokee Nation states that these companies have not complied with federal drug regulations, turned a blind eye to questionable prescribing practices, and allowed vulnerable areas to become flooded with potent opioids.
“The brunt of the epidemic could have been, and should have been, prevented by the defendant companies,” the nation says in the lawsuit.
The Oklahoma-based tribe has been heavily impacted by the ongoing opioid epidemic.
According to the New York Times, an estimated 70 percent of Cherokee foster children in Oklahoma have been placed with non-Native American families. A prominent reason for taking them away has been opioid withdrawal in children as well as addicted parents.
The schism caused by drugs in the community and the displacement of children has caused a reckoning as the tribe’s heritage and tradition appear at risk.
“I believe these companies target populations,” Todd Hembree, the attorney general of the Cherokee Nation told The Times. “They know Native Americans have higher rates of addiction. So when they direct their product here, they shouldn’t be surprised to find themselves in a Cherokee court.”A flood of lawsuits
The Cherokee Nation lawsuit is just one of dozens of lawsuits brought against the makers and distributors of opioids by authorities in states across the country, including Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, and California.
The scope of these lawsuits is almost unprecedented.
“This is a phenomenon in relation to the amount of litigation. Its timeliness, the people that are caught up in the path of it, but it does have great precedence,” James Hodge, JD, a professor of public health law and ethics at Arizona State University, told Healthline.
“This is not the first time we’ve had to go after a seriously dangerous product with a litigation-like strategy,” he said.
The closest analogy, say experts, is when prosecutors went after and finally settled with the tobacco industry in the mid-1990s.
The tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in 1998, between the four largest U.S. tobacco companies and the attorneys general of 46 states, was the largest civil-litigation settlement in U.S. history.
There are some excellent similarities [between opioids and tobacco litigation],” said Hodge. “You are talking about a lawful product that can be used, in both cases, lawfully by persons. It’s a product that’s been proliferated, that’s extensive, that’s been pushed and marketed.”What’s wrong?
For the current crop of opioid lawsuits popping up in the United States, there isn’t just one entity that is being targeted.
It’s not one drug. It’s not one company.
Opioids are the target.
How far prosecutors are willing to go to follow that trail is growing by the day. What’s clear, experts say, is that in that mired opioid network of producers, distributors, doctors, and pharmacies, something is wrong.
But who — and to what extent isn’t clear at all.
However, Hodge suggests that opioid lawsuits will likely be part of a war of attrition. Despite the tobacco Master Settlement concluding in 1998, he says that it was slowly built on decades of lawsuits. Some going back 30 or 40 years.
Tobacco companies were “hammered over and over. The cracks started to emerge,” said Hodge.
“I think what’s happening with opioids is exactly the same thing. We are chipping away at this industry,” he said.
Pharma companies, distributors, and pharmacies have offered different statements on the matter.
Cardinal Health, an opioid distributor named in the Cherokee Nation lawsuit told CNN that, “the facts and the law are on our side, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against the plaintiff's mischaracterization of those facts and misunderstanding of the law.”
In a statement to Healthline, a CVS representative said, “We believe this lawsuit has no merit. CVS Health is committed to the highest standards of ethics and business practices.”Lawsuit hurdles
The lawsuits also face fundamental problems that are different from how lawyers approached the tobacco industry.
The argument that has come up by other experts on the matter when comparing the two is this: Opioids can be used safely if following the prescription; tobacco can never be used safely.
Richard Ausness, JD, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law, recently explained to The Atlantic that courts have previously made it clear that individuals are the responsible parties when it comes to addiction and overdose, not pharma companies.
Hodge says this will be a persistent argument that those named in the many forthcoming opioid lawsuits will always have in their back pockets.
“These drugs can be used safe. There’s no doubt, and they are approved by FDA for such purposes,” he says. “People know these drugs are dangerous now and [drug companies] are going to be using that quite effectively for lawsuits that are now being pushed forward.”
The Cherokee Nation lawsuit has already begun to face legal challenges from some of the companies named within it. Pharmacies and distributors have asked for an injunction from a federal court to stop the lawsuit from moving forward.
In the filings cited by the New York Times, the companies believed that they would not receive a fair trial in tribal court.
Representatives from the Cherokee Nation did not respond to Healthline’s request for comments.
Those companies’ reservations about fair treatment in tribal court, might not be their only worries either.
“Put together a jury anywhere in the United States that is of people not affected by the opioid epidemic and that will be tough to find,” says Hodge. “It’s that extensive.”
“You know somebody,” he continues. “I know somebody, most every American does, directly impacted by this opioid epidemic, and they are not sympathetic to it. Often, it’s a friend or a relative. You’ve seen what can happen. You’ve seen them go to addiction services and or lose their life or livelihoods.”
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County may join lawsuit against drug makers
Jan 8, 2018 | News Topic (NC)
By Virginia Annable
Caldwell County could be the next to join a growing list of counties signed on to a national lawsuit against drug companies in the midst of the opioid crisis.
The Caldwell County Board of Commissioners discussed Monday night whether to join nine other North Carolina counties and two North Carolina cities as well as others all over the U.S. in that legal battle. The commissioners considered a resolution to declare the opioid crisis a public nuisance, which gives the county the authority to take action against it, but decided to wait a month and take time to talk to the county attorney.
The remainder of this article is under paywall at: http://www.newstopicnews.com/news/local/county-may-join-lawsuit-against-drug-makers/article_ca9dccba-f4d7-11e7-afc9-e3090e036ac3.html
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New Plan to Fight the Opioid Epidemic: Sue the Hell Out of Big Pharma Like Big Tobacco
Jan 9, 2018 | Daily Beast
By Daniel McGraw
In the next two years, the opioid epidemic is estimated to cost the United States a trillion dollars and kill almost 100,000 Americans. President Donald Trump declared it a public health crisis this year but has not asked Congress for additional money to fight the scourge.
That leaves states, counties, and cities to bear much of the cost—and they want Big Pharma to pay.
“We kept seeing our crime problems and overdose deaths going up every year, and we got no response for anyone with the federal government,” Mayor Paul Billups of Ceredo, West Virginia, told The Daily Beast. “They didn’t have a plan, so we decided to come up with a plan. We decided caring for people is more important than marketing and profits.”
Ceredo is one of about 250 states, counties, and cities that have filed lawsuits against multiple pharmaceutical companies and distributors of opioid prescription pills that are blamed for turning pain patients into heroin addicts.
Richie Webber is one such victim. A star high-school track and football athlete 10 years ago, Webber got injured, got on pain pills, and got hooked. It led to heroin use and two nearly fatal overdoses. Webber has been clean for about three years and works with a community group in his native Ohio to help people like him get treatment.
“I find it really odd when the pharmaceutical companies that make pills like OxyContin claim they are nonaddictive and just help people with pain,” he said. “Well, let’s look at it from my perspective. We’ve helped more than 300 people get into rehab this year, and 90 percent of them started with prescription pain pills. That’s nonaddictive?”
They Knew Better
That is the thrust of most of the lawsuits: Those who make and distribute opioid pain pills have to clean up the drug addiction mess, and that mess was created by deceptive marketing and claims that these pain meds were nonaddictive. Communities want the companies they’re suing to help pay for “significant harm and damages, including, but not limited to, the breakdown of families, increased health insurance costs, increased police and fire usage, increased usage of the criminal justice system and other significant harms,” as a recent lawsuit filed Columbus, Ohio, put it.
These lawsuits are being filed all over the country, from Seattle, Washington, to Bangor, Maine. The Cherokee Nation has filed one as well.
“All we are looking for is a little justice in all this,” Pete Orput, the Washington County attorney in Minnesota told The Daily Beast on why his county joined other counties in the state filing suit. “We just want some payback. For years we have heard [the pharmaceutical companies] tell us they have nothing to do with the addiction. I resent what they have told us, and I resent what they have done in our community.”
The defendant named in most lawsuits is Purdue Pharma, which introduced OxyContin in 1996. The drug is a pain medicine based on a morphine-like derivative that Purdue promised was nonaddictive thanks to its time-release formula. Originally, it was prescribed for acute pain, like broken bones, terminal cancer, or post-surgical recovery. By the 2000s though, it was doled out by doctors to treat chronic and even minor pain.
“What happened was compassion became conflated with opioid prescribing, so a doctor who wasn’t willing to prescribe opioids was seen as withholding and sadistic,” said Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and author of Drug Dealer MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked and Why It’s So Hard to Stop.
In a statement, Purdue Pharma said: “We are deeply troubled by the prescription and illicit opioid abuse crisis, and are dedicated to being part of the solution. As a company grounded in science, we must balance patient access to FDA-approved medicines, while working collaboratively to solve this public health challenge… We vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense.”
Opioid prescriptions tripled between 1999 and 2016 and so too did overdose deaths. In 2016, 42,249 people in the U.S. died of opioid-caused overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—more than deaths from breast cancer that same year. The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) last November estimated the cost from the opioid crisis was about $500 billion in 2015.
Back to Big Tobacco
Supporters and critics of the opioid lawsuits point to the lawsuits by states against tobacco companies in the 1990s for the cigarette-makers responsibility for health problems like lung cancer. That was settled in 1998 for $246 billion, and the tobacco companies will pay their yearly allowance of that settlement through 2025.
“The model for this is still tobacco,” said David Kessler, who led the Food and Drug Administration from 1990 to 1997 and pushed hard for the FDA to regulate cigarettes. “Those who sell or distribute these highly addictive products need to have systems in place that they adhere to so we can control this epidemic.
“It is accepted and there is little doubt that too many of these drugs were put into the marketplace and sold beyond their legitimate needs,” Kessler told The Daily Beast. “The vast majority of people get addicted because of prescriptions, and we need to tighten the distribution and make the manufacturers of these drugs more responsible for what they have placed in the market.
“This is a public health issue, and we need to get better control on how much of the drug is placed in the market. These lawsuits may call better attention to those goals.”
Pharmaceutical companies in the past have settled lawsuits like these (including Purdue Pharma) and treat their fines as a cost of doing business. In this case, however, the settlement might be very big. “There is power in numbers,” says Orput. “You can pay one or two of us off, but you can’t pay all of us off.”
If Big Pharma is forced to pay, the question is to whom and how many. Treatment services? Increased foster care for children of addicts? Compensation to the addicts themselves?
Just the amount of funding that might go to the families of the deceased could be huge. From 1999 to 2015, more than 183,000 people have died in the U.S. from overdoses related to prescription opioids. If the court valued those lives at $50,000 each (to pick a random number), that would be $9 billion just in death payments.
Kenneth Feinberg, the attorney who oversaw the Sept. 11 victim’s fund dispersal, as well as similar appointed jobs with the BP offshore oil cleanup and the Boston Marathon bombing, said any settlement would need to be combined with congressionally approved funding to “have a better idea of who to and how much is distributed.”
“But getting anything through Congress is a chore,” Feinberg said. “If Congress enacted and appropriated enough money to deal with this crisis, a lot of these lawsuits would disappear.”
Wayne Campbell of Pickerington, Ohio, has been hearing the calls from other parents for the federal government to do something since his son, Tyler, died from a heroin overdose in 2011 after he was prescribed pain medication for a football injury.
“We constructed a timeline of his death, and it was just 18 months from precipitation drugs like OxyContin to heroin to rehab treatment to overdose and death,” he says of his son.
Campbell now runs a nonprofit group called Tyler’s Light, which tries to raise awareness about drug abuse and addiction for Ohio schoolchildren.
“If you see dead fish floating in the river, the best thing to do is to go upstream and find out why the fish are being killed. I think these lawsuits might have a role in us as a society doing that.”
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Misleading marketing of opioids has cost local communities
Jan 9, 2018 | Seattle Times (EDITORIAL)
By Editorial Board
Purdue Pharma’s aggressive and deceitful marketing of its painkiller OxyContin should have ended more than a decade ago, when the company pleaded guilty to misleading regulators, the public and doctors about the addictiveness of the drug.
But in the years that followed, it appears the company continued to promote OxyContin heavily in Washington state, nearly doubling its sales force here and recruiting local doctors to market the opioid and boost prescriptions, according to newly unsealed portions of a complaint filed by the state Attorney General’s Office. What’s more, Attorney General Bob Ferguson says the company kept feeding doctors and patients lies about the drug’s risks and effectiveness.
Ferguson is right to object to what looks like an ongoing onslaught of misinformation from the pharmaceutical industry. That Purdue Pharma would renew its dangerous marketing campaign after paying millions in penalties over those same deceptions is an insult to communities in Washington state and across the country.
While Purdue denies the allegations, it has a poor track record of being honest when it comes to the risks of its prescription drugs. Local officials are now left cleaning up an opioid epidemic fueled in part by Purdue’s recklessness and greed.
Statewide, opioid overdoses claimed the lives of about 700 people in 2016, a higher number than died from car crashes that year. Most of those opioid overdoses — 60 percent — were traced to prescription opioids, according to preliminary numbers from the state Department of Health.
Everett and Tacoma have launched their own lawsuits against Purdue, saying the epidemic of opioid addiction has contributed to rising homelessness in their communities and forced them to spend more on human services. Seattle, which spent about $60 million on homelessness programs last year, has filed a separate lawsuit.
Yet as these problems mounted, Ferguson says Purdue kept misleading doctors and patients, telling them prescription painkillers were effective at treating chronic pain while carrying a low risk of addiction, despite studies to the contrary.
If Ferguson’s claims are true, the company has gone back on its word. As part of a settlement Washington and other states reached with Purdue in 2007, the company pledged to stop minimizing the risks of OxyContin.
This time, Ferguson’s lawsuit seeks to force Purdue to forfeit profits from sales of the drug in Washington.
Sadly, hitting drug companies where it hurts — their bottom line — may be the only way to force them to start caring about communities above profits.
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Holding Big Pharma Accountable for Opioid Epidemic (EDITORIAL)
Jan 8, 2018 | Timesunion (NY)
By Dan McCoy (Albany County, NY Executive)
Last week I was proud to file federal litigation against national pharmaceutical manufacturers for their role in creating the opioid crisis affecting Albany County and our nation. Joining me was Elizabeth Smith from the nationally respected law firm Motley Rice. The purpose of this action is to hold these companies accountable for their role in deceptive tactics that have resulted in addiction, overdoses and deaths.
One of the biggest crisis affecting our community is the ongoing opioid and heroin epidemics. It is unacceptable that our families, friends and communities continue to experience devastating heartbreak over the loss of life, just so these pharmaceutical companies can get rich. This litigation puts these companies on notice that Albany County will not tolerate their actions anymore. Combined with our efforts of my Opioid Task Force and Project Orange, I am determined to utilize all possible resources, because one more death to opioids or heroin is one death too many.
In 2014, opioids as a class generated $11 billion in revenue for the pharmaceutical companies. This is a direct result of the deceptive marketing from these companies, resulting in over-prescribing.
In 2016 alone, Albany County had 11 heroin related deaths, 8 deaths from opioid pain reliever overdoses, and nearly 1,200 unique clients admitted to treatment programs for heroin and other opioids.
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Opioid litigation may be one way to help stem societal problem (EDITORIAL)
Jan 8, 2018 | The Daily News (IL)
By Staff
The Marquette County Board recently decided to throw its support behind a growing number of municipalities that are picking a legal fight with the “big pharma” industry.
The litigation is centered around opioids the drug companies created and allegations that these companies knew about and downplayed the addictive and harmful effects of these types of drugs.
Opioids, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is a class of drugs that include heroin, fentanyl, and other prescribed pain relievers like morphine, codeine, hydrocodone and oxycodone, or Oxycontin, which an MLive Media Group report cites as being manufactured by Purdue Pharma, and which has generated near $3 billion a year for that company.
A Crain’s Detroit Business article reports that quite a few municipal entities have filed similar suits against big pharmaceutical companies. Some of those include the cities of Detroit, Lansing and Escanaba, as well as the counties of Genesee, Macomb, Wayne, Oakland, Saginaw, Grand Traverse, Delta and Chippewa.
Aside from Purdue Pharma, a few of the other pharmaceutical companies and drug makers listed in the suits are CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and Costco, according to the MLive report.
Exactly how these lawsuits will all shake out and which side the courts will ultimately believe remains uncertain. But from where we stand here in the Upper Peninsula, it appears to be a case worth pursuing.
Marquette County Administrator Scott Erbisch told county board members that lawyers representing them in the case have indicated high hopes of a successful lawsuit. If the courts sided with the county, that would mean the county would be reimbursed for expenses related to dealing with opioid abuse issues, such as law enforcement, emergency response and autopsy costs.
We can only imagine those combined costs would be substantial.
We’ve seen a number of people right here in Superiorland fall victim to opioid abuse, and have read some of their names in the obituaries. As many media headlines have shown, opioid abuse has captured the attention of law enforcement in greater numbers over recent years. Countless friends and families have been impacted by this unfortunate situation, often referred to as an epidemic by those aware of the widespread activity.
There’s no doubt that this is a big issue, with a lot of money and lives at stake. The battle looming in the courts will be challenging.
As Marquette County Commissioner Joe Derocha noted in a recent Journal article, perhaps the doctors prescribing the pills should be looked at rather than the drug manufacturers. We agree that there may be more than one component to the opioid abuse issue, and perhaps the best solution is a multipronged approach.
Regardless, we can’t deny that something has to be done to improve this situation, and society must take steps toward saving the lives of these victims one way or another.
Whether this lawsuit the Marquette County Board has signed onto is the best means to that end is, at this writing, unclear. But at the very least, we hope this legal action will raise awareness of the opioid abuse epidemic that has swept our state, and for all of us to begin an open and frank discussion of the matter, one which we hope will lead to a positive outcome.
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Madison County's judiciary chair wants to prevent opioid litigation from resembling asbestos docket
Jan 8, 2018 | Madison - St. Clair Record (IL)
By Ann Maher
Madison County Board member Mike Walters came out forcefully against modeling potential opioid litigation after the type of lawsuits the county is most well known for, saying the asbestos docket has been a "terrible drain" in terms of businesses that either want to leave or not locate here at all.
"Anybody who says it does not affect Madison County, you do not work out of this county because it incredibly does," Walters said at a county Judiciary Committee meeting on Friday. "I talk to business owners and lobbyists who represent business owners and they would not come here for anything. I'm sorry I get flustered when I hear people say we are bringing in money. I'm sorry we are losing."
Walters himself is a lobbyist and head of the Southern Illinois Employers Association, an organization that promotes the interests of manufacturers in a region of oil refineries and steel factories.
The county judiciary, which Walters chairs, has been contemplating whether to join a rapidly growing number of local governments that are pursuing civil litigation against manufacturers and distributors of opioids. In November, the committee heard presentations from attorneys Paul Hanly of Alton-based Simmons Hanly Conroy and Ann Callis of the Goldenberg firm in Edwardsville who want to represent Madison County.
Walters said he expects committee members to have all questions answered next month and a vote taken in March on whether to pursue litigation that would seek to recover costs incurred by government agencies in dealing with the addiction crisis. The committee's recommendation would then go to the full county board for consideration.
At Friday's meeting, State's Attorney Tom Gibbons said there are two ways opioid litigation can be brought, by resolution of the county board or by him as allowed by statute.
He said that sole authority for selecting counsel rests with his office, and that he would solicit bids from either single law firm groups or multi-firm groups.
The benefit of multi-firm groups is the ability of firms to share litigation costs which can run up to $1 million, he said.
"If you look at what some of the other counties in Illinois have done you'll find that many, if not all, are using multi firm groups," he said.
"One of the things we are seeing consistently is that the law firms that are making commitments to counties are making the commitment to pay all costs up front, and that is kind of a big deal."
Under a scenario in which the county does pursue litigation, Gibbons said he would solicit and review bids, and then decide what firm or firms to hire. He said he would make that information available to the public.
"It should completely be done in the open," he said. "This belongs to the people of Madison County."
Gibbons also indicated that chances are slim that Madison County could be picked as a national docket if there is a consolidation of state court opioid lawsuits.
On the federal level, last month close to 200 local government lawsuits from around the country were consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) that will be heard in the Northern District of Ohio. Attorney Hanly was selected to serve among lead counsel on that MDL.
Gibbons said he had heard "in the past" some discussions about Madison County serving as an opioid litigation court.
"I don't know what the likelihood there would be for that to happen as there are counties that are far ahead of us," he said. "I suspect because we have taken a more cautious approach that that train may have already left the station."
Walters, who waited until the end of a meeting that went into executive session, objected strongly to Gibbons' characterization of a national asbestos docket as something that provides Madison County citizens with "extraordinary" benefits given the amount of money that comes from it.
"I have to disagree wholeheartedly about the asbestos docket that was brought here," he said. "Yes, the defense likes it. They're making a whole heck of a lot of money, maybe not as much as the ones prosecuting.
"It also started here by suing specific facilities, and as you know they started suing everybody. The reason they can keep it here in Madison County or Illinois is a certain company that gets named in every lawsuit. And as soon as this lawsuit gets verified then this company gets removed from the lawsuit. There is some type of abuse and I am fearful it (opioid litigation) could turn into that."
The "certain company" referenced by Walters is John Crane, an Illinois-based company named in virtually every local asbestos lawsuit, which plaintiffs assert provides venue in an Illinois court. Some defendants have called the practice “gamesmanship” designed to prevent a case from being removed to federal court.
Walters said that Madison County's asbestos docket is a "pure example" of what can go wrong.
Based on his observation that many owners of "mom and pop shops" went out of business because they were named to the Madison County asbestos docket, Walters said he was "fearful" that the type of defendants named in opioid litigation would "creep" from alleged wrongdoers into naming local doctors, pharmacies and hospitals.
"I hear they're not wanting to go after doctors and hospitals, but that's what they said about asbestos," Walters said. "It can be expanded."
Gibbons said he would "absolutely not" allow litigation creep.
Other than the "pill mill" type of operators and manufacturers and distributors, Gibbons said that "our" doctors and hospitals are "not where we see the liability."
"Our specific claims would be limited to the complaint we file, unless someone was successful in coopting our local claims," he said.
Board member Phil Chapman said if the county does proceed it should have an "overarching vision" for the litigation.
"If we went ahead and if we don't have clear vision on how to spend a big lump sum... the worst case is we would have a suitcase of money, and people begin to act strange," Chapman said.
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Stop Calling it an Opioid Crisis—It’s a Heroin and Fentanyl Crisis
Jan 9, 2018 | CATO Institute
By Jeffrey A. Singer
The National Center for Health Statistics reported last month that a record 63,600 deaths occurred in 2016 due to overdoses. Digging deeper into that number shows over 20,000 of those deaths were due to the powerful drug fentanyl, more than 15,000 were caused by heroin, and roughly 14,500 were caused by prescription opioids, although it has been known for years that, in most cases of prescription opioid deaths, the victims had multiple other potentiating drugs onboard. The rest of the deaths were due to methamphetamines, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and methadone.
Drugs Involved in U.S. Overdose Deaths* - Among the more than 64,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in 2016, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (synthetic opioids) with over 20,000 overdose deaths. Source: CDC WONDER
* Provisional counts for 2016 are based on data available for analysis as of 8/2017.
In its end-of-year report, the National Center for Health Statistics noted deaths from fentanyl increased at a steady annual rate of 18% per year from 1999-2013 and then shot up 88% from 2013-2016.
Fentanyl is not routinely prescribed in the outpatient setting, and when it is, it most commonly is in the form of a skin patch for slow, transdermal release, unsuitable for abuse or nonmedical use. The evidence shows it is being smuggled into the country, often by mail, in powdered form from factories in China and elsewhere, where it is used to fill counterfeit prescription opioid capsules or to lace heroin to enhance its potency.
In the case of heroin, NCHS found the death rate steady from 1999-2005, then it increased 10% per year from 2005-2010, 33% per year from 2010-2014, and has been increasing at a rate of 19% per year since 2014.
Meanwhile, after increasing 13% annually from 1999-2009, the death rate increase from prescription opioids has remained steady at 3% per year since 2009.
For nearly a decade, policymakers have bought into the misguided narrative that the opioid overdose crisis is a result of careless doctors and greedy pharmaceutical companies getting patients hooked on prescription opioids and condemning them to the nightmarish world of drug addiction. As a result, the Drug Enforcement Administration has ordered decreases in prescription opioid production. There was a 25 % reduction in 2017 and a 20% reduction is ordered for 2018. States have set up monitoring programs that put doctors and patients under surveillance leading to a dramatic reduction in the prescription of opioids since 2010. In fact, high-dose prescribing fell 41% since 2010. The popular opioid OxyContin was replaced with an abuse-deterrent formulation in 2010 (that could not be crushed for snorting or dissolved for injecting), and, since then, several other such formulations have come online.
This focus on the supply and prescription of opioids makes many patients needlessly suffer in pain. Some, in desperation, turn to the illicit market to get relief, where they find heroin and heroin-laced fentanyl often cheaper and easier to get. Some resort to suicide.
Policymakers mistakenly focus on doctors treating their patients in pain. By intruding on the patient-doctor relationship they impede physician judgment and increase patient suffering. But another unintended consequence is that, by reducing the amount of prescription opioids that can be diverted to the illicit market, they have driven nonmedical users to heroin and fentanyl, which are cheaper and easier to obtain on the street than prescription opioids, and much more dangerous.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that from 2006 to 2010 the opioid prescription rate tracked closely with the opioid overdose rate, at roughly 1 overdose for every 13,000 prescriptions. Then, after 2010, when the prescription rate dropped and it became more difficult to divert opioids for nonmedical use, the overdose rate began to climb as nonmedical users switched over to heroin and fentanyl. There is a dramatic negative correlation between prescription rate to overdose rate of -0.99 since 2010.
The overdose rate is not a product of doctors and patients abusing prescription opioids. It is a product of nonmedical users accessing the illicit market.
The problem will not get better—it will probably only get worse—as long as we continue to call this an “opioid crisis.” The title is too nonspecific. This is a crisis caused by drug prohibition—an unintended consequence of nonmedical drug users accessing the black market in drugs. Policymakers should stop harassing doctors and their patients and shift the focus to reforming overall drug policy. A good place to start would be to implement harm reduction measures, such as safe syringe programs, making Medication Assisted Treatments like methadone and suboxone more readily available, and making the opioid antidote naloxone available over-the-counter, so it can be easier for opioid users to obtain. Even better would be a sober reassessment of America’s longest war, the “War on Drugs.”
Renaming the problem a “heroin and fentanyl crisis” might be a way to trigger a refocus.
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Jan 9, 2018 | WTHI (CBS)
By Terra Haute, IN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813649?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: local leaders are taking action against the opioid epidemic. vigo county and the city of terre haute -- are now part a lawsuit against -- "the distributors" of opioid drugs. the suit claims -- distributors and -- or -- manufacturers played a part in the creation of the drug epidemic. the companies are accused of wrongfully distributing the drugs. these lawsuits claim cities and counties took a financial hit due to drug-addiction. they look to "re-coup" some of that money.
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WRTV News: Good Morning Indiana
Jan 9, 2018 | WRTV (ABC)
By Indianapolis, IN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813768?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: another city in indiana has filed a lawsuit as the opioid epidemic continues to grip the nation. 3 the city of noblesville, claims manufacturersaggressively pushed the addictive drugs -- and told doctors that patients would only rarely become addicted. in november, the city of indianpolis filed a similar lawsuit in federal court.
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Jan 9, 2018 | WPXI (NBC)
By Pittsburgh, PA
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813784?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: the opioid crisis reached record numbers in 2017. there is no end in sight unfortunately. this month allegheny county will hire legal counsel to put together a possible lawsuit. they will look at the effect that opioids have had on the community and what manufacturers and/or prescribers may have caused it.
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Jan 9, 2018 | WBNS (CBS)
By Columbus, OH
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813786?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: franklin county could take a new step in fighting opioid addiction. county leaders could decide today to join more than 60 lawsuits that have been filed against drug manufacturers and distributors. those lawsuits blame those companies for the opioid epidemic by putting profits above the public's health.
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Jan 9, 2018 | WPBN (NBC)
By Traverse City, MI
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813790?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: cities and counties across michigan are banning together to file lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies they believe play a role in opioid addiction. one county is left to decide whether or not they'll join the lawsuit. they say the drugs create public health risk and drain local governments financially especially the courts, law enforcement, ems. if the county moves forward the law firm will do an assess. on how much the county has lost in damages. >> there is substantial costs incurred by municipalities in michigan and really nationwide. that's why i think counties have been eager to join this litigation to hopefully recover some of the cost and benefit their communities in that way. >> the county commission will vote on whether or not to go through with the lawsuit in a vote and a law firm will prevent them. they're hoping this will send a message to the pharmaceutical companies and force them to change their policies.
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Jan 9, 2018 | WKRG (CBS)
By Mobile, AL
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813794?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: you may remember two weeks ago we told you how the city of mobile filed a public nuisance lawsuit against six manufacturers of prescription opioids as well as against the country's three largest wholesale drug distributors. the city alleges--- the manufacturing companies pushed the addictive drugs... and distributors did not meet their legal requirement to investigate and report suspiciously large orders of prescription opioids. you can read the lawsuit for yourself on our website
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ABC2 News Good Morning Maryland 4:30AM
Jan 9, 2018 | WMAR (ABC)
By Baltimore, MD
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813797?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: baltimore county is planning sue several drug manufacturers, and distributors of opioids. county executive kevin kamenetz made the announcement monday. kamenetz says "the opioid crisis has led to a significant increase of overdoses from heroin d prescription drug abuse".he has not said which pharmaceutical companies the county would target with the lawsuit -- and also has not specified the amount of damages it plans to seek. anne arundel county has also filed a similar lawsuit against opioid manufacturers.
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Jan 8, 2018 | WGTQ (ABC)
By Traverse City, MI
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813800?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: Cities and counties all across the state are getting together to file lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies who they say played the role in opioidaddiction. tomorrow morning otsego county will decide if they will join the lawsuit. while opioids greater public health risk it drains counties economically. if the county does move forward the law firms would do an assessment of how much the county has lost damages. >> there is substantial cost incurred by municipalities in michigan -- in jack -- in michigan and nationwide. i think that is why counties have been eager to join into the litigation hopefully recover some of the cost and fan for their communities. >> the county commission will vote on whether or not to go through with the lawsuit and vote on which law firm would represent them if they choose to follow through with it. the law firms involved hope this will allow them to send the message to the pharmaceutical companies and force them to change policies. grand traverse and chippewa county have joined the lawsuits.
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Jan 9, 2018 | KYLX (CBS)
By Laredo, TX
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813801?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: webb county is following the path of other state and local agencies who are filing a lawsuit against some of the nation's largest pharmarceutic al companies. the aim is to hold the drug manufacturers responsible for wrongfully causing opioid addiction in webb county. today at commissioner's court, several law firms were interviewed to se who would ultimately represent the county in the opioid litigation. commissioners decided to postpone their decision to select a law firm. that decision will be made during a special meeting on friday. webb county judge tijerina explained why the county is suing... "drug addiction is everywhere. webb county is no different, and it's something that-- especially-- we're thinking of people that are out on the streets, but we need to stop and focus as wel on the people that are actualy at home and who are they? they could be our athletes, they could be our young children at high school." the local lawsuits are part of a wave of civil cases that governments across the country have filed in federal and state courts against pharmaceutica l manufacturers and distributors.
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Jan 8, 2018 | WJLA (ABC)
By Washington, DC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813805?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: baltimore county plans to sue over the opioid crisis. they say that the doctors were pressured to prescribe opioid for chronic pain. baltimore county reported 187 substance-related deaths in the first six months of 2017. anne arundel county filed a similar lawsuit last week.
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Jan 8, 2018 | WTTV (CBS)
By Indianapolis, IN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813809?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: another indiana city -- joining a lawsuit against drug companies tonight. noblesville's joing indy, bloomington, lafayette and multiple other counties. all of them accuse drug companies of addictive opioids while downplaying their addictive qualities. the lawsuit also says these companies have failed to investigate or report suspicious orders of the drugs. in the suit, noblesville says the opioid crisis has resulted in numerous economic damages... and the city wants the drug companies to foot the bill. meanwhile -- big changes are being proposed tonight - in how doctors across indiana prescribe opioid painkillers. lawmakers want to make all prescribers register with the states prescription drug database. officials say about 40 percent are currently in the system. beyond that - lawmakers want to make a search of that database mandatory within three years - before any opioids are 'keep in mind
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Jan 9, 2018 | WTHI (CBS)
By Terre Haute, IN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31813817?token=6257cdff-b21c-4437-9b3e-ca50424434b4
Rough Transcript: "vigo county" joins "the city of terre haute".. and a host of other local government units.. who are suing the distributors "of opioid drugs". "the city of terre haute" joined this lawsuit in november of last year. at that time.. "only distributors" were named "as defendants". now.. "that lawsuit" includes manufacturers. because "vigo county" joined this lawsuit recently.. "their complaint" includes: "opioid manufacturers". "terre haute" can amend its complaint to include "manufacturers at any time".
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