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Opioid Litigation Daily Media Report - 1/12/2018
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Federal Judge Invites States to Discuss Opioid Crisis
Jan 11, 2018 | Associated Press
By Staff
A federal judge who's overseeing lawsuits from around the country against the pharmaceutical industry has invited state attorneys general to join discussions and provide input. -
Judge Seeking Settlement of Opioid Lawsuits Reaches Out to States: Ohio
Jan 11, 2018 | Reuters
By Nate Raymond
A federal judge pushing for a quick settlement of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors by U.S. cities and counties is seeking to meet with states that are separately suing and probing the companies, Ohio’s attorney general said on Thursday. -
Ohio in Talks to Settle Opioid Suit, State Attorney General Says
Jan 11, 2018 | Wall Street Journal
By Jeanne Whalen & Sara Randazzo
Ohio's attorney general said the state has begun settlement talks with two opioid-painkiller makers -- Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. -- concerning the state's lawsuit alleging illegal marketing of the drugs. -
Mike DeWine meets with Johnson and Johnson, Teva to discuss opioids suit settlement
Jan 11, 2018 | Cleveland.com (OH)
By Laura Hancock
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has met with two pharmaceutical companies to discuss settling Ohio's lawsuit that accuses them of creating the state's opioid epidemic. -
Drug-makers open talks with DeWine on opioid settlement
Jan 11, 2018 | The Columbus Dispatch (OH)
By Randy Ludlow
The office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine began discussions Wednesday in hopes of reaching a settlement with some of the drug manufacturers the state is suing over claims they irresponsibly promoted and sold addictive opioids. -
Trial date set for Oklahoma's lawsuit against opioid manufacturers
Jan 12, 2018 | News Oklahoma (OK)
By Chris Casteel
Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman on Thursday set a trial date for Oklahoma's lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, allowing the state attorney general's office to begin gathering evidence to back its claims that the drugmakers hid the addictive nature of their products. -
Oklahoma Gets Trial Date for Suit Against Drug Makers
Jan 12, 2018 | Public Radio Tulsa (OK)
By Matt Trotter
Oklahoma is the first state in the U.S. to get a trial date in its lawsuit against the makers of opioid painkillers. -
AG Hunter speaks on opioid epidemic, process
Jan 11, 2018 | CHNI Oklahoma (OK)
By Kieran Steckley
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter has been on the job less than a year. Much of his focus has been on the state’s opioid epidemic. -
State’s Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers Gets Trial Date
Jan 12, 2018 | News 9 Oklahoma (OK)
By Jessi Mitchell
The state's lawsuit against the leading manufacturers of opioids has now become the first of its kind to head to a jury trial. Cleveland County Judge Thad Balkman set the trial date for May 2019, but lawyers for the opioid manufacturers argue this case is too complex to be ready that soon. -
Trial date set for Oklahoma’s opioid case against pharmaceutical companies
Jan 11, 2018 | Oklahoma News 4 (OK)
By Kelsey Gibbs
A trial date is now set in connection with the state's lawsuit against opioid manufacturers. -
Dallas County sues big drug companies over opioid epidemic
Jan 12, 2018 | Dallas News (TX)
By Naomi Martin
Dallas County sued a slew of drug companies and doctors this week over their alleged roles in the deadly opioid epidemic, joining dozens of other governments nationwide that have launched court battles. -
OPIOID CRISIS BLAMED IN PART ON PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES: FREESTONE COUNTY JOINS CLASS ACTION SUIT
Jan 12, 2018 | Freestone County Times (TX)
By Nicole Shaefer
“It’s my belief that the best action for the County is to jump on board with these other counties and move forward by engaging with The Beckham Group for Opioid litigation,” states Freestone County District/County Attorney Brian Evans at the January 3, 2018 meeting of county commissioners. -
New details: Gaston to join lawsuit against opioid manufacturers
Jan 12, 2018 | Gaston Gazette (NC)
By Dashiell Coleman
Gaston County announced Thursday that its Board of Commissioners has signed an agreement with lawyers from across the United States to file a lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers for “alleged improper marketing of opioids” and distributors of the drugs for “improper reporting of prescription orders to the federal government.” -
Augusta Mayor Davis announces lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors
Jan 12, 2018 | WRDW (GA)
By Staff
Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. is filing a public nuisance lawsuit against five of the largest manufacturers of prescription opioids and their related companies and against the country's three largest wholesale opioid drug distributors. -
Mayor announces lawsuit against opioid companies
Jan 11, 2018 | The Augusta Chronicle (GA)
By Susan McCord
Augusta has filed suit against five large opioid manufacturers, related companies and the three largest wholesale opioid distributors, Mayor Hardie Davis announced Thursday. -
County files lawsuit against opioid manufacturers
Jan 12, 2018 | The Champion (IL)
By Horace Holloman
In 2017, approximately 86 people died of an overdose in DeKalb County. According to county officials, 44 of those deaths were attributed to opioids. -
Anoka County joins others in suing prescription opioid manufacturers
Jan 11, 2018 | Fox 9 (MN)
By Staff
Anoka County is the latest Minnesota county to file a civil lawsuit against manufacturers of prescription painkillers, accusing them of contributing to the state’s opioid crisis. -
Biddeford the latest Maine city to join lawsuit against opioid makers
Jan 12, 2018 | Bangor Daily News (ME)
By Dina MEndros
Biddeford is one of several cities in Maine and many across the country suing pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and distribute opioids. The suit is one method the city is using to battle the opioid crisis as well as recoup expenditures its made fighting that battle and assisting victims and the families of victims of opioid use. -
With Trump MIA on Opioids, Here Come the Lawyers (EDITORIAL)
Jan 12, 2018 | Bloomberg
By Joe Nocera
How is the U.S. going to end its opioid crisis? -
Bill would tax some opioid sales to fund addiction treatment
Jan 12, 2018 | The Oklahoman (OK)
By Meg Wingerter
Manufacturers, distributors and others involved in selling opioids in Oklahoma could be forced to help fund addiction treatment under a bill publicly announced Thursday. -
Opioid decision shows lack of common sense (LETTER TO THE EDITOR)
Jan 9, 2018 | The Courier Tribune (NC)
By Bobby Thompson
I was the only public speaker during the county commissioners meeting concerning the opioid lawsuit. I relayed my family’s experience with opioids and tried to educate the commissioners on the crisis and its origins. -
Judge Asks for Quick Resolution to Opioid Litigation
Jan 11, 2018 | Legal Reader
By Sara E. Teller
A large federal lawsuit filed by Delray Beach seeks to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for contributing to the opioid crisis. The case, which alleges deceptive marketing practices by pharmaceutical companies that manufacture prescription painkillers, as well as claims drug wholesales bough more pain pills than needed in areas plagued by addiction, is one of more than 180 pertaining to the litigation, and federal judge, U.S. District Judge Dan Polster of Ohio who was nominated for appointment by President Clinton, is seeking a quick resolution. -
Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx Has Hard-Earned Ideas For Battling The Opioid Crisis
Jan 12, 2018 | Fast Company
By Melissa Locker
Mötley Crüe was a hard-rocking band, and Nikki Sixx, the bassist and cofounder, may have been the hardest rocker of them all. He chronicled it all in his New York Times best-selling memoir The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star. To call it a tell-all is an understatement—some of the stories and photos were so raw and graphic that they even gave Sixx pause. -
Senators unclear on Trump's comment about opioid crisis
Jan 12, 2018 | CNN Politics
By Ashley Killough
As lawmakers gathered in the Oval Office Wednesday night for a bipartisan bill signing to combat opioids, President Donald Trump made one comment that left some wondering what he meant. -
FOX23 News This Morning
Jan 12, 2018 | KOKI (FOX)
By Tulsa, OK
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31915657?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950 -
News 9 at 6:00 PM
Jan 11, 2018 | KWTV (CBS)
By Oklahoma City, OK
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31918370?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950 -
KFOR News 4 at 6:00am
Jan 12, 2018 | KFOR (NBC)
By Oklahoma City, OK
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31916163?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950 -
40/29 News Sunrise
Jan 12, 2018 | KHBS (ABC)
By Ft. Smith, AR
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31916679?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950 -
WECT News, Carolina in the Morning
Jan 12, 2018 | WECT (NBC)
By Wilmington, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31917202?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950 -
9 On Your Side at 6pm
Jan 11, 2018 | WCPO (ABC)
By Cincinnati, OH
VIDEO LINK:http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31915089?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950 -
Eyewitness News Daybreak 5:00
Jan 12, 2018 | WSOC (ABC)
By Charlotte, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31917216?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950 -
WFXG FOX 54 News NOW
Jan 12, 2018 | WFXG (Fox)
By Augusta-Aiken, GA
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31915125?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950 -
WMTW News 8 at 6am
Jan 12, 2018 | WMTW (ABC)
By Portland, ME
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31916684?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950 -
FOX 9's 10 at 10
Jan 12, 2018 | WFTC (MNT)
By Minneapolis, MN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31917744?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Ohio AG Mike DeWine Meeting
Southwest (OK, TX)
Southeast (NC, GA)
Midwest (IL, MN)
Northeast (ME)
Commentary and FYIs
Broadcast Media Coverage
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Federal Judge Invites States to Discuss Opioid Crisis
Jan 11, 2018 | Associated Press
By Staff
A federal judge who's overseeing lawsuits from around the country against the pharmaceutical industry has invited state attorneys general to join discussions and provide input.
Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland is overseeing a consolidated case involving dozens of suits filed by communities against drugmakers and drug distributors.
Polster told The Associated Press Thursday he invited representatives this week from two groups of attorneys general to attend a hearing later this month.
One group, represented by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, has filed its own lawsuits over fallout from the opioid epidemic.
A second, bigger group has joined a multistate investigation of the industry.
"It's clear that any resolution has to be a global one and needs to include the states, and lawsuits that have been filed and lawsuits that are contemplated," Polster told the AP.
The judge said in courtroom comments Tuesday he'd like some kind of action to resolve the lawsuits this year.
DeWine, a Republican candidate for governor, plans to focus his remarks to the judge on the impact of the epidemic on the state. He didn't say whether Ohio would consider joining the cases before Polster.
The opioid epidemic has hit the state hard, with a record 4,050 overdose deaths in 2016, a number expected to climb again in 2017. Many of those deaths involve heroin or even deadlier synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Increased reliance on naloxone, an antidote drug used to revive overdose victims, has strained the budgets of many communities. The state foster care system also says the number of children in custody because of their parents' drug use is soaring.
"I would hope to be able to present to him what we see is going on in Ohio, where we think the damages have occurred and are continuing to occur," DeWine said.
DeWine sued five drugmakers last year, accusing the companies of perpetrating the state's addictions epidemic by intentionally misleading patients about the dangers of painkillers and promoting benefits of the drugs not backed by science.
Twelve other states have filed similar lawsuits which are separate from those before Polster, which are generally lawsuits brought by cities or counties against drugmakers and drug distributors.
The other twelve states, according to DeWine's office, are: Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washington state.
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Judge Seeking Settlement of Opioid Lawsuits Reaches Out to States: Ohio
Jan 11, 2018 | Reuters
By Nate Raymond
A federal judge pushing for a quick settlement of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors by U.S. cities and counties is seeking to meet with states that are separately suing and probing the companies, Ohio’s attorney general said on Thursday.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said he also held meetings on Wednesday with Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd to discuss settling a lawsuit he filed accusing them of deceptively marketing opioids.
That lawsuit, like others by state attorneys general, is in a state court outside the purview of U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland, who is overseeing more than 200 lawsuits by cities, counties and others over the opioid epidemic.
In a move that could help the companies reach global settlements, DeWine said Polster on Wednesday invited him to attend a Jan. 31 meeting as a representative of the 13 states who have filed lawsuits against opioid manufacturers.
“I think the judge is right that we can settle this matter,” DeWine said in an interview.
Opioids were involved in over 42,000 overdose deaths in 2016, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A wave of lawsuits have accused drugmakers of pushing addictive painkillers through deceptive marketing and wholesale distributors of failing to report suspicious drug orders.
DeWine, a Republican who is running for governor in Ohio, said Polster told him he is also reaching out to attorneys general who have not sued and are instead conducting a multistate investigation of the companies.
An assistant to Polster declined to comment. Johnson & Johnson in a statement called settlement talks with states attorneys general confidential and the allegations against it “baseless and unsubstantiated.” Teva declined to comment.
Polster’s outreach to state attorneys general followed a hearing on Tuesday where he told lawyers that he wanted to “do something meaningful to abate this crisis and to do it in 2018.”
“I don’t think anyone in the country is interested in a whole lot of finger-pointing at this point, and I‘m not either,” he said.
After a lawyer for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP noted it was fighting cases not before Polster, the judge said he could “pick up the phone and call any state attorney general I want and invite him or them to be involved.”
Other defendants include Endo International PLC, Allergan PLC, AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp.
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Ohio in Talks to Settle Opioid Suit, State Attorney General Says
Jan 11, 2018 | Wall Street Journal
By Jeanne Whalen & Sara Randazzo
Ohio's attorney general said the state has begun settlement talks with two opioid-painkiller makers -- Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. -- concerning the state's lawsuit alleging illegal marketing of the drugs.
Attorney General Mike DeWine said his staff held separate meetings with the companies Wednesday. He described the meetings as "settlement discussions."
"That's my description of it," he said in a phone interview. "They may refer to it just as discussions." The companies didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
"We outlined with them where we feel Ohio needs help -- in prevention, education and treatment, as well as the huge problem we're having with our foster-care system because so many of the parents are addicted," Mr. DeWine said.
Ohio was one of the first states to sue opioid-painkiller makers, alleging they fueled the opioid-addiction crisis by misrepresenting the benefits and addictive risks of their painkillers.
The companies have denied the allegations and said they are committed to the safe and medically appropriate use of the drugs.
Mr. DeWine said Ohio also is hoping to begin settlement talks with two other defendants in its suit -- Allergan PLC and Endo International PLC -- but hasn't yet scheduled meetings. Allergan and Endo couldn't immediately be reached to comment.
"The one company that has made it abundantly clear they are not willing to meet with us is Purdue Pharma. I think that's a shame," Mr. DeWine said. Purdue couldn't immediately be reached to comment.
About a dozen states and many more counties and cities have filed lawsuits similar to Ohio's, against various opioid painkiller makers and distributors. A separate bipartisan group of state attorneys general is conducting a joint investigation into painkiller marketing and the cause of the addiction crisis.
Purdue late last year said it was working on an "expedited basis" with this bipartisan group, and urged Ohio to join those discussions.
Ohio has begun settlement talks with opioid-painkiller makers it has sued alleging illegal marketing, and will meet with a federal judge urging settlement of hundreds of similar suits, in early steps toward resolution of the sprawling litigation.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said his staff held separate meetings with Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Wednesday. He described the meetings as "settlement discussions."
"We outlined with them where we feel Ohio needs help -- in prevention, education and treatment, as well as the huge problem we're having with our foster-care system because so many of the parents are addicted," Mr. DeWine said.
Teva said in a statement, "We appreciate the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Ohio AG's office to discuss this important public health issue."
Johnson & Johnson said: "While we consider the specifics of our discussions with state attorneys general to be confidential, we continue to maintain that allegations made in lawsuits against our company are baseless and unsubstantiated." It added: "At the same time we recognize that opioid abuse and addiction are serious public health issues that must be addressed...we look forward to being a part of the ongoing dialogue."
Mr. DeWine said Ohio also hopes to begin settlement talks with two other defendants in its suit -- Allergan PLC and Endo International PLC -- but hasn't yet scheduled meetings. Defendant Purdue Pharma L.P. has made it clear it isn't willing to meet, he said. Allergan and Endo didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Purdue referred to a letter it sent Mr. DeWine late last year in which it said it was working with a bipartisan group of attorneys general investigating the crisis. Purdue's letter urged Ohio to join those discussions rather than pursue its own lawsuit.
Ohio was one of the first states to sue opioid-painkiller makers, alleging they fueled the opioid-addiction crisis by misrepresenting the benefits and addictive risks of their painkillers. The companies have denied the allegations and said they are committed to the safe and medically appropriate use of the drugs.
More than a dozen states, and more than 250 counties and cities, have filed lawsuits similar to Ohio's, alleging that various opioid-painkiller makers and distributors helped create a crisis of opioid addiction by improperly marketing or distributing the drugs.
Mr. DeWine said that on Wednesday U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who is overseeing more than 200 of the opioid cases filed in federal court, invited him to attend a meeting with the parties involved in federal court. Mr. DeWine said he will attend the meeting scheduled for Jan. 31 in Cleveland.
Judge Polster is overseeing cases mostly filed by cities and counties. States, by contrast, have filed their lawsuits in state court.
Mr. DeWine said he believes the judge is aiming to spark global settlement talks involving all parties litigating in federal and state court. He said he believes the judge also has invited to the meeting state attorneys general involved in the bipartisan investigation.
"If there's a way to settle this without years of spending time in litigation, that should take place now," Mr. DeWine said. "There's also the argument that you need a global settlement, which is why I think he's reaching out to the states."
Earlier this week, Judge Polster had urged the parties in federal court to reach a swift resolution of the litigation.
Judge Polster's assistant said Thursday the judge wouldn't comment on Mr. DeWine's remarks but that he would be issuing an order in the next week with more information.
James Boffetti, a senior assistant attorney general in New Hampshire working on that state's opioid suit, said Thursday he hadn't yet heard directly from Judge Polster but that if settlement talks are being proposed, he would take a careful look. "Most of us realize that every day a couple hundred people are dying of opioid abuse," he said. "It's a crisis that needs to be addressed."
New Hampshire's lawsuit, filed against Purdue in August, has been stalled by fights over whether the suit should be heard in state or federal court.
Judge Polster had indicated in court Tuesday that his settlement vision could also include parties not in his courtroom, like state attorneys general.
"I can pick up the phone and call any state attorney general I want and invite him or them to be involved, and I'm sure they will," the judge said. "They've got the same interests."
During Tuesday's hearing, Judge Polster noted that his powers as a federal judge have limits, and that he "can't order a state judge to do anything."
Already, a state court judge in Oklahoma has set a May 2019 trial date in a lawsuit filed last June by Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter against opioid manufacturers.
Mr. Hunter said in a statement Thursday he appreciated the urgency the judge showed in "getting the case to trial."
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Mike DeWine meets with Johnson and Johnson, Teva to discuss opioids suit settlement
Jan 11, 2018 | Cleveland.com (OH)
By Laura Hancock
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has met with two pharmaceutical companies to discuss settling Ohio's lawsuit that accuses them of creating the state's opioid epidemic.
In a telephone interview Thursday, DeWine said he met Wednesday with representatives of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Johnson & Johnson in what he described as the first settlement meeting.
"We talked about what we considered to be the priorities," he told cleveland.com's Capitol Letter. "There would be prevention and education. Treatment. And the third would be the foster-care crisis. They also talked about education of doctors. Those were the four areas that were discussed."
DeWine, a Republican who is running for governor, in October publicly called for the defendants to settle the case, which he filed in May in Ross County - an area hit hard by the epidemic.
In the lawsuit, DeWine argues that the drug companies understated the risks of prescription opioids and overstated the benefits.
OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma did not attend the settlement meeting, which DeWine called a shame.
Bob Josephson, a Purdue spokesman, said the company sent DeWine a letter in late November saying that it is in discussions with a number of states that claim they are struggling with an opioids epidemic. Ohio left those talks when it filed suit.
The attorney general said he couldn't comment on the status of any potential settlement, but he anticipates future talks with the companies - and possibly other defendants in the suit.
"Our whole goal here is to try to get help as soon as possible for people who are suffering in Ohio," DeWine said. "What I said initially when we sued them was they created the mess they should be involved in helping clean it up."
DeWine also said Thursday that he's going to attend the next meeting, which will be Jan. 31, in a Cleveland federal court where U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over 200 government lawsuits against Big Pharma, distributors and doctors.
DeWine said he spoke to Polster on Wednesday and decided to attend, although that doesn't necessarily mean Ohio will join any of those actions.
Polster on Tuesday told parties in the lawsuits that they need to settle.
"I think the judge is absolutely right in what he said in court that if possible there needs to be a global settlement , a global solution," DeWine said. "The judge was reaching out to us in other states, with that in mind."
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Drug-makers open talks with DeWine on opioid settlement
Jan 11, 2018 | The Columbus Dispatch (OH)
By Randy Ludlow
The office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine began discussions Wednesday in hopes of reaching a settlement with some of the drug manufacturers the state is suing over claims they irresponsibly promoted and sold addictive opioids.
State lawyers met with representatives of Johnson & Johnson and Teva to discuss settling the state lawsuit and obtaining funds to help expand education and treatment options amid the state’s still-expanding opioid fatal overdose crisis, DeWine said.
The state anticipates further meetings and hopes to also meet with other drug manufacturers and distributors, DeWine said.
DeWine’s office sued five drug manufacturers in Ross County Common Pleas Court on May 31. His office still is considering whether to sue distributors, such as Dublin-based Cardinal Health.
Only Purdue Pharma, a manufacturer, has indicated it is not willing to meet with his representatives, the attorney general said.
DeWine also said that U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster, who is handling more than 200 opioid-related lawsuits filed by counties and municipalities in Cleveland, invited him to attend a Jan. 31 hearing although the state is not a party to the federal lawsuits.
“Ohio is hurting now ... the goal is an inclusive settlement” to obtain funds to help state and local officials better battle the opioid epidemic, DeWine said.
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Trial date set for Oklahoma's lawsuit against opioid manufacturers
Jan 12, 2018 | News Oklahoma (OK)
By Chris Casteel
Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman on Thursday set a trial date for Oklahoma's lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, allowing the state attorney general's office to begin gathering evidence to back its claims that the drugmakers hid the addictive nature of their products.
Balkman set the date for May 28, 2019. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said Thursday the state's lawsuit is the first to receive a trial date.
"That is a fast track to get this kind of a case tried, and we were happy with that decision,'' Hunter said in an interview.hris Casteel Published: January 12, 2018 5:00 AM CDT Updated: January 12, 2018 5:00 AM CDT1share1Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter
NORMAN — Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman on Thursday set a trial date for Oklahoma's lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, allowing the state attorney general's office to begin gathering evidence to back its claims that the drugmakers hid the addictive nature of their products.
Balkman set the date for May 28, 2019. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said Thursday the state's lawsuit is the first to receive a trial date.
"That is a fast track to get this kind of a case tried, and we were happy with that decision,'' Hunter said in an interview.
The discovery process — gathering documents and witness testimony — "is going to be challenging and complicated," Hunter said, adding that the court is expected to appoint a special master to handle disputes over what the companies must disclose.
Hunter filed the suit last June against companies that made and marketed opium-based painkillers, claiming they misrepresented the risk of addiction and "touted unsubstantiated benefits."
"As far as we're concerned, the manufacturers are the bad actors here and they're the ones who started the brainwashing," Hunter said Thursday.
According to Hunter, about 2,700 Oklahomans have died from opioid overdoses in the past three years.
The state's lawsuit says Oklahoma led the nation in 2016 in milligrams of opioids distributed per adult resident. Hunter said Thursday that opioid addiction has cost billions of dollars in state money for health care, law enforcement, corrections and rehabilitation.
Dozens of states. local governments and tribes have filed suits against opioid manufacturers and distributors. The Cherokee Nation, the first major tribe to file a suit against wholesale distributors and pharmacy operators, was dealt a setback this week when a federal judge in Tulsa ruled that tribal court did not have jurisdiction in the case.
The state is suing Purdue Pharma, Allergan, Teva and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
Sarah Freeman, spokeswoman for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said, "We believe 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."
Purdue Pharma released a statement, saying, "We vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense."
The company 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."
An Alllergan spokeswoman said the company had no comment Thursday on the trial date.
A statement from the company says, “It is important to put into perspective Allergan's role regarding opioids. Allergan's two branded opioid products — Norco and Kadian — account for less than 0.08 percent of all opioid products prescribed in 2016 in the U.S. These products came to Allergan through legacy acquisitions and have not been promoted since 2012, in the case of Kadian, and since 2003, in the case of Norco."
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Oklahoma Gets Trial Date for Suit Against Drug Makers
Jan 12, 2018 | Public Radio Tulsa (OK)
By Matt Trotter
Oklahoma is the first state in the U.S. to get a trial date in its lawsuit against the makers of opioid painkillers.
The state and drug companies will meet in Cleveland County Court in May 2019.
"The state’s case is solid and our team is prepared to hold these companies accountable for their role in the deadliest drug epidemic the state and nation have ever seen," Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said in a statement.
Hunter filed the lawsuit in June, claiming misleading advertising for products from Purdue Pharma, Allergan, Cephalon and Janssen Pharmaceuticals over the past decade are behind the state's opioid epidemic.
Judge Thad Balkman ruled against the drug companies' motions to dismiss last month.
"We appreciate the urgency Judge Balkman saw in getting the case to trial," Hunter said. "Rather than dragging it out longer, which is what the companies had requested, Oklahomans who have suffered immeasurably from the years of fraudulent marketing campaigns will see this case resolved sooner rather than later."
In the last three years, nearly 3,000 Oklahomans have died from overdose deaths and more than 1,300 newborns have tested positive for substance exposure. In 2016, Oklahoma ranked first in the number of milligrams of opioids distributed per adult, and in the 14 counties surrounding Tulsa, there were enough opioids for every man, woman and child to have 90 pills.
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AG Hunter speaks on opioid epidemic, process
Jan 11, 2018 | CHNI Oklahoma (OK)
By Kieran Steckley
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter has been on the job less than a year. Much of his focus has been on the state’s opioid epidemic.
Hunter met with members of the Stillwater News Press editorial board to discuss his goals as attorney general Wednesday afternoon.
Hunter replaced Scott Pruitt when Pruitt was appointed as head of the Environmental Protective Agency by President Donald Trump. Hunter is running for re-election this year, although he has no opponent to date.
The opioid epidemic – the fallout of which Hunter described as “heartbreaking” – in Oklahoma has long been discussed, but recent legal action against drug manufacturers has not significantly stymied the flow of prescription opioids to addicts. Hunter is trying to change that.
Hunter said Oklahoma is the only state to file a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and have it reach the discovery phase.
When a Cleveland County judge denied a motion to dismiss the suit in December, Hunter released a statement highlighting the importance of the lawsuit for Oklahomans.
“Through decades of fraudulent marketing campaigns to doctors and consumers, these companies have been the driving force in the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, an epidemic that claimed more than 64,000 lives last year alone,” Hunter said. “Oklahoma continues to suffer greatly because of it. In the last three years, nearly 3,000 Oklahomans have died from overdoses and more than 1,300 newborns have tested positive for substance exposure. The opioid crisis has created a generation of addicts, who continue to struggle on a daily basis.
“These companies put profits over people, and we intend to hold them accountable.”
Hunter said the process of tackling the opioid epidemic has reaffirmed his previously held beliefs that the epidemic isn’t limited to simply going after manufacturers or more options for those addicted to get help. It is all the above.
Hunter said he is going after manufacturers for “the extent misrepresented, pseudoscience to generate the basis of physicians ignoring decades of research of opioids’ addictive nature.” While prescribers had a part to play, they have at least made an effort to correct the problem, Hunter said. Prescribers that run “pill mills” and have “put profits above their patients” are identified and prosecuted.
Attention now turns to the manufacturers.
“There was just a complete callousness about that business model,” Hunter said. “Making billions every year at the expense of American people.”
Hunter said the lawsuit is not of the “sue and settle” variety, and the goal is to put any award from the judgment in a flexible trust, where, with help from the Legislature, funds could go to treatment options.
“We are serious about this lawsuit and going to trial,” Hunter said.
Hunter also believes more needs to be done at the federal level, as he penned a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions requesting the federal government pursue opioid manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors in October.
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State’s Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers Gets Trial Date
Jan 12, 2018 | News 9 Oklahoma (OK)
By Jessi Mitchell
The state's lawsuit against the leading manufacturers of opioids has now become the first of its kind to head to a jury trial. Cleveland County Judge Thad Balkman set the trial date for May 2019, but lawyers for the opioid manufacturers argue this case is too complex to be ready that soon.
Originally filed last summer, Attorney General Mike Hunter's lawsuit outlines the effects these drugs have had on Oklahomans. He says nearly 3,000 people have died of overdoses in the past three years alone, and more than 1,300 babies have been born with opioids in their system in the same time frame.
“The more time that elapses before we can get a handle on this, the more the people of this state are hurt, so we’re happy with the judge’s decision,” said Hunter.
The defense attorneys argue that because of the scope of this case, it will take more than the 16 months allotted to gather all the documents necessary to move forward. Plus, Judge Balkman ruled that the case will need a discovery master to oversee all the evidence for both sides, which could also lengthen the process.
Hunter explained that if there is a dispute over any documents, “There will be a decision by the special master, and then there’s an appeal that goes to the judge, so that happens frequently.”
The defense declined to comment on Thursday, but in the courtroom they did encourage the state to instead join a federal lawsuit based in Ohio.
Hunter says he wants a jury of Oklahomans to decide their fate, and he wants the resulting damages to be placed in a trust to fund treatment and rehabilitation for those still battling addiction.
“They need to be held accountable,” Hunter said of the manufacturers. “The damage to this state is in the billions of dollars and it’s time that they were able to give money back to the state so we can start getting people well.”
The next phase of this case will be determining who the discovery master will be. The judge hopes to have that person identified within the next month.
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Trial date set for Oklahoma’s opioid case against pharmaceutical companies
Jan 11, 2018 | Oklahoma News 4 (OK)
By Kelsey Gibbs
A trial date is now set in connection with the state's lawsuit against opioid manufacturers.
Oklahoma is the first state in the nation to have their lawsuit against drug manufacturers move forward.
According to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, almost 3,000 Oklahomans have died from overdosing on opioids in the last three years.
“Drugs destroyed my life in so many different facets, from my family life to my spiritual life,” Cam Cox said.
Cox understands the battle of addiction. He struggled for years with a meth addiction that actually landed him behind bars.
“I did about 11 years in federal prison, not for drug related crimes directly, but they were related to drugs,” he said.
Cox has now turned his life around, and he’s helping others with addictions through Kehlam Sober Living, a halfway house he runs.
Now, he is glad to see the state helping as well.“I have noticed that getting people away from opioids is a much more complex adventure than other drugs,” said Cox.
In June 2017, the state decided to take many drug companies to court.
“They misrepresented the addictive qualities of the drugs. There's been damaged to the state, that's the essence of the trial,” said Attorney General Mike Hunter.
The two sides met back in court Thursday morning in Cleveland County to set a trial date.
The state pushed for the trial to begin in May of 2019 and the judge granted that request. However, lawyers with the pharmaceutical companies argued that isn't enough time for them to prepare.
“We think we've done everything we needed to do to provide them a template of what the state damages are,” Hunter said.
Hunter said that the state won't settle in the case. Instead, he wants a jury to make a decision and wants the drug companies to pay up.
“My hope would be that you have something similar to the tobacco settlement, where the money is placed in trust and the income goes to treatment programs and rehabilitation,” Hunter said.
As for those who kicked their dangerous habits, they see this as a step in the right direction.
“Opioids have completely taken over the lives of so many Oklahomans, and I don`t think it's inappropriate at all for those charged with protecting us to take actions to correct what has gone wrong,” Cox said.
Lawyers with the pharmaceutical companies chose not to comment on the matter. Both sides have until Jan. 22 to present the judge with a special master to help oversee mediation.
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Dallas County sues big drug companies over opioid epidemic
Jan 12, 2018 | Dallas News (TX)
By Naomi Martin
Dallas County sued a slew of drug companies and doctors this week over their alleged roles in the deadly opioid epidemic, joining dozens of other governments nationwide that have launched court battles.
The 59-page claim filed Monday in Dallas County court accuses at least 11 pharmaceutical companies — including Purdue Pharma, which makes the bestselling painkiller OxyContin — and three local doctors of knowingly pushing addictive drugs on patients while claiming they were safe. The three doctors have all been convicted of illegal "pill mill" over-prescription practices.
"While using opioids has taken an enormous toll on Dallas County and its residents, defendants have realized blockbuster profits," the lawsuit said. "In 2014 alone, opioids generated $11 billion in revenue for drug companies like defendants."
Painkiller abuse has led to tens of thousands of deaths nationwide, and experts say the trend has led to more people using heroin, an opioid that can be cheaper and easier to obtain than prescription drugs.
Every day, 91 Americans die on average from opioid overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Dallas County, at least 1,928 people have died of opioids or heroin overdoses since 2011, according to a Dallas Morning News review of autopsy records. Opioids include the codeine in some cough syrups, heroin and prescription drugs such as hydrocodone and oxycodone.
County Judge Clay Jenkins said the goal of the lawsuit is to recoup some of the money that the county has had to pay for medical care and substance abuse treatment at Parkland Memorial Hospital, as well as responses by law enforcement and the jail. The suit is seeking actual and punitive damages, without specifying a number.
"When a large swath of your population becomes addicted to drugs, it's not just them — it's a loss of productivity, an increase in criminal activity, the jail cost associated with this — it just hits you across the board," Jenkins said. "Taxpayers feel all of that."
Drug companies denied the allegations in the lawsuit. Purdue said its products account for 2 percent of total opioid prescriptions. The company said it has developed opioid drugs with "abuse-deterrent properties" and partners with law enforcement to provide access to naloxone, a drug that can reverse an overdose.
"We are deeply troubled by the prescription and illicit opioid abuse crisis, and are dedicated to being part of the solution," said Bob Josephson, a spokesman for Purdue Pharma. "We vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense."
Janssen Pharmaceuticals called the allegations in the lawsuit unfounded and said its products account for less than 1 percent of total opioid prescriptions. The company vowed to work with governments to find solutions to the public health issue of drug abuse.
"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 Sarah Freeman, a spokeswoman for Janssen. "Responsibly used opioid-based pain medicines give doctors and patients important choices to help manage the debilitating effects of chronic pain."
Three Dallas-area doctors are also named as defendants. Dr. Richard Andrews pleaded guilty to owning a "pill mill" at the McAllen Medical Clinic in Dallas. Dr. Theodore Okechuku is serving a 25-year sentence for operating a "pill mill" in Lake Highlands. And Dr. Nicolas Padron operated a cash-only clinic in Dallas and is now serving a seven-year sentence.
Dozens of local and state governments have filed lawsuits against the major opioid manufacturers. Many are still winding their way through court. Last year, West Virginia secured a multimillion-dollar settlement with two drug distributors, according to media reports.
Dallas County's lawsuit came about last year after law firms pursuing similar actions in other areas reached out, Jenkins said. The county interviewed several law firms and decided on three to represent it. They are working on a contingency basis, meaning they get paid only if the county wins a settlement or judgment. The law firms are entitled to 12.5 percent of the payout, according to the contract.
According to the lawsuit, the drug companies succeeded in spreading their "falsehoods" in the medical community by funding doctors, known as "key opinion leaders," and "Front Groups," which were "seemingly neutral and credible professional societies and patient advocacy groups."
"Defendants dramatically changed doctors' views regarding opioids through a well-funded deceptive marketing scheme," the lawsuit said. "Absent defendants' deceptive marketing scheme, these doctors would not have been able to over prescribe opioids or become embroiled in pill mills that negatively impacted residents of Dallas County."
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price drew a comparison to the multibillion-dollar lawsuits against big tobacco companies in the 1990s.
"It's not too dissimilar from the tobacco case," Price said. "The companies knowingly impacted the public health of a community in a way that was, in my opinion, reckless. That's the issue on the table. This epidemic is real."
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OPIOID CRISIS BLAMED IN PART ON PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES: FREESTONE COUNTY JOINS CLASS ACTION SUIT
Jan 12, 2018 | Freestone County Times (TX)
By Nicole Shaefer
“It’s my belief that the best action for the County is to jump on board with these other counties and move forward by engaging with The Beckham Group for Opioid litigation,” states Freestone County District/County Attorney Brian Evans at the January 3, 2018 meeting of county commissioners.
During the December 20, 2017 meeting, Patrick McShan with the Dallas based law firm, The Beckham Group, presented an agreement to Commissioners, explaining that it is critical to enter into said agreement before the State of Texas begins any litigations against Pharmaceutical companies.
Commissioners had tabled the subject at this meeting, giving DA Evans a chance to look over the information and give his opinion prior to voting. Upon hearing his recommendation at the previous meeting, Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the acceptance of this agreement.
According to McShan, if the State of Texas chooses to go after pharmaceutical companies, all counties will receive some sort of settlement if the State wins; however, if the County does so prior to the State, the County will have control over the litigation and may receive even more funds with a settlement.
Declared an Emergency Health Crisis by President Donald Trump, the Opioid situation is a $79 Billion cost to counties and states; effecting medical costs, laws, and worker productivity.
Stats show that 31% of Americans are addicted to tobacco in some form, while 38% of Americans use prescription Opioids; which is proven to result in clinical addiction within a four-day period. A whopping 9,000 deaths per year are attributed to Opioid overdose; and 80% of heroin users start their drug use with an Opioid prescription.
McShan explains that the two most common claims used in litigation against the pharmaceutical companies are Public Nuisance and Violation of the Controlled Substance Act.
“Pharmaceutical companies have been pushing these drugs, knowing there is no valid reason to do so,” explains McShan.
Currently, the Beckham Group represents 26 counties. The agreement would require no up-front costs by the County. When a settlement is reached, the group would receive 30% and the County 70%. If the litigation is unsuccessful, the County is no worse for wear.
“I really think this is something the County should take advantage of,” concludes DA Evans.
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New details: Gaston to join lawsuit against opioid manufacturers
Jan 12, 2018 | Gaston Gazette (NC)
By Dashiell Coleman
Gaston County announced Thursday that its Board of Commissioners has signed an agreement with lawyers from across the United States to file a lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers for “alleged improper marketing of opioids” and distributors of the drugs for “improper reporting of prescription orders to the federal government.”
A day earlier, two commissioners had confirmed that legal action was being considered.
“Our county is suffering greatly from the lives that have been devastated and lost as a result of opioid addiction,” Commission Chairman Chad Brown said in a prepared statement included with the county’s announcement Thursday.
Accidental opioid overdoses killed North Carolinians at a rate of roughly 12 people for every 100,000 from 2012-2016, according to the state. In Gaston County, the rate was about 20 out of 100,000.
At a summit on opioid abuse this week, Gaston’s Department of Health and Human Services reported that the county had the fourth-highest number of heroin overdoses and the highest number of prescription overdoses in North Carolina from 1999-2014. In 2016, more than 15 million opioid pills were issued in the county, according to the department. The number was even higher, about 20 million, in 2015.
Use of opioids here is higher than it is across most of the state. In 2016, the average amount of pills dispensed to North Carolinians with a prescription for opioids was 66. In Gaston, it was 94.
According to the state, the number of Gaston residents receiving emergency-room treatment for opioid overdoses has declined overall in recent years: There were 74 such cases in 2016, 68 in 2015, 176 cases in 2014, 180 in 2013 and 156 in 2012.
Commissioners signed a contract to retain nine law firms from five states: North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Mississippi and West Virginia.
Commissioner Tracy Philbeck, quoted in the county’s announcement, said there will be “absolutely no expenditure of any taxpayer money” associated with the litigation. The lawyers in the case will not be paid unless they win monetary judgments, Philbeck said.
Several governments across the U.S. have filed civil lawsuits against drug companies over the last couple of years.
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Augusta Mayor Davis announces lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors
Jan 12, 2018 | WRDW (GA)
By Staff
Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. is filing a public nuisance lawsuit against five of the largest manufacturers of prescription opioids and their related companies and against the country's three largest wholesale opioid drug distributors.
According to a release from the city, Augusta "is joining a growing list of city and county governments across the country that are taking action against the drug manufacturers and distributors for fueling the opioid crisis in their communities."
The statement also reads, "Augusta is working with a consortium of law firms to hold pharmaceutical drug manufacturers and wholesale distributors accountable for failing to do what they were charged with doing under the federal Controlled Substances Act – monitor, identify and report suspicious activity in the size and frequency of opioid shipments to pharmacies and hospitals."
“We are taking this action today because the costs of this opioid crisis have overwhelmed our ability to provide for the health, welfare, and safety of our residents,” Mayor Davis said. “Homes have been broken and families torn apart by this epidemic, which has claimed victims from all walks of life. But it is the pharmaceutical drug manufacturers and wholesale drug distributors who failed in their legal obligation to notify the Drug Enforcement Administration of suspicious orders, even as the number of pills flowing into our county rose and rose.”
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, in 2016, 982 people lost their lives due to opioid drug overdoses in the state. Based on the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 9 opioid prescriptions were dispensed for every 10 residents of Augusta-Richmond County in 2016.
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Mayor announces lawsuit against opioid companies
Jan 11, 2018 | The Augusta Chronicle (GA)
By Susan McCord
Augusta has filed suit against five large opioid manufacturers, related companies and the three largest wholesale opioid distributors, Mayor Hardie Davis announced Thursday.
The announcement follows a Tuesday vote, encouraged by Davis, by the Augusta Commission to join in litigation against makers and distributors of prescription forms of the powerful painkillers.
Davis said in a statement the unnamed defendants have “failed in their legal obligation to notify the Drug Enforcement Administration of suspicious orders, even as the number of pills flowing into our county rose and rose.”
A consortium of 10 law firms led by Baron & Budd of Dallas including Augusta-based Enoch Tarver will represent the city in the litigation. The firms will receive 30 percent of gross damages awarded Augusta plus expenses, up to 50 percent of funds recovered, if the suit is successful, according to the agreement the commission approved Tuesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted nine opioid prescriptions for every 10 Augusta residents in 2016.
Opioids include drugs such as morphine, hydrocodone, fentanyl and methadone used pharmaceutically, as well as the illicit U-47700, manufactured fentanyl variants and heroin.
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County files lawsuit against opioid manufacturers
Jan 12, 2018 | The Champion (IL)
By Horace Holloman
In 2017, approximately 86 people died of an overdose in DeKalb County. According to county officials, 44 of those deaths were attributed to opioids.
Because of the cost of dealing with opioid addiction, the county has agreed to sue opioid manufacturers to recoup some of the financial losses associated with treating addiction.
“This sends the message that the county is on top of the issue,” said DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson. “We don’t want anyone to die and we’re working on prevention and intervention. We’re alert and proactive and getting on the front end of this issue.”
According to the lawsuit, county officials are experiencing increased costs associated with law enforcement, emergency care, and treatment to help those suffering from opioid abuse.
The county officially filed the lawsuit Dec. 20 and claims opioid manufactures are pushing for patients to be treated with opioids while downplaying the possibility of addiction.
“My goal is to bring awareness to this issue and tell the pharmacies that this is not something we will tolerate. There are other ways to treat legitimate pain,” Johnson said. “This is unacceptable.”
DeKalb County joins other counties such as Fulton, which filed similar lawsuits. Opioid drugs such as OxyContin, Fentanyl and Percocet are at the root of the cause according to the lawsuit.
Last year Johnson held multiple opioid addiction summits to bring awareness to the issue.
“The addiction is having a profound impact on DeKalb County. One death is too many,” Johnson said. “If you have a loved one going through this addiction, find them help. There are ways people can come back and fight this. This is a sickness. It’s not criminal.”
Law Firm Napoli Shkolnik PLLC will be representing government entities during the litigation process, including DeKalb County. Shayna Sacks, a partner with the firm said opioid manufacturers have been dishonest to the public.
The pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers and distributors cannot continue to mislead the public,” said Sacks. “This suit will hold big pharma accountable for the damage they have caused this community.”
In 2017, President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency. According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, Georgia ranks in the top 12 of prescription opioid deaths.
“There will be no cost to the DeKalb County taxpayers with this filing. Our office is committed to working with the county in its efforts to combat the devastation these painkillers continue to cause,” said Hunter Shkolnik, a partner with Napoli Shkolnik PLLC.
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Anoka County joins others in suing prescription opioid manufacturers
Jan 11, 2018 | Fox 9 (MN)
By Staff
Anoka County is the latest Minnesota county to file a civil lawsuit against manufacturers of prescription painkillers, accusing them of contributing to the state’s opioid crisis.
The Anoka County Attorney is suing the pharmaceutical companies for damages resulting from the opioid crisis, arguing that the epidemic has financial strained the services the county provides.
According to the lawsuit, there were 395 opioid deaths in Minnesota in 2016 – an 18 percent increase from 2015. The majority of those opioid-related deaths involved prescription painkillers.
The lawsuit accuses pharmaceutical companies of using an aggressive marketing campaign to change the culture of prescribing opioids. The lawsuit claims pharmaceutical companies convinced doctors that it was safe to prescribe opioids to treat not only severe and short-term pain, but also for less severe and longer-term pain, such as back pain and arthritis.
“Defendants knew, however, that their opioid products were addictive, subject to abuse and not safe of efficacious for long-term use,” the lawsuit says.
In 2016, the Food and Drug Administration recognized opioid abuse as a public health crisis. Despite this, the lawsuit says pharmaceutical companies have maintained that prescription opioids are not dangerous and have continued to sell the drugs.
About 20 other Minnesota county attorneys filed similar lawsuits in November, led by Washington County Attorney Pete Orput.
“We must hold these corporate shlockmeisters responsible for their rapacious profiteering that has directly contributed to deaths, family breakups, hospitalizations and addictions, Orput said.
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Biddeford the latest Maine city to join lawsuit against opioid makers
Jan 12, 2018 | Bangor Daily News (ME)
By Dina MEndros
Biddeford is one of several cities in Maine and many across the country suing pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and distribute opioids. The suit is one method the city is using to battle the opioid crisis as well as recoup expenditures its made fighting that battle and assisting victims and the families of victims of opioid use.
The Biddeford council voted 7-2 earlier this month, with Councilors Michael Ready and Laura Seaver in opposition, for a resolution to authorize City Manager James Bennett to retain Napoli Shkolnik, PLLC and Trafton, Matzen, Belleau & Frenette, LLP, the latter of which has an office in Auburn. The firms are being hired to prosecute “any legal claims against manufacturers and distributors of opioids arising out of the manufacturers’ and distributors’ fraudulent and negligent marketing and distribution of opioids,” according to the resolution.
In answer to Councilor Robert Quattrone’s question as to what the city is hoping to gain from the suit, City Attorney Keith Jacques said “The goal … is to get some monetary relief and some concessions on behalf of the manufacturer.”
In another question, Quattrone asked “Isn’t this like going after a car manufacturer because the person is a habitual speeder?”
The money will go directly to the city, not the opioid victims, said Adam Lee, who is with the Auburn law firm.
The only way for cities to recoup the funds they spend to assist victims of opioid use “is through this sort of action,” he said.
Lee told councilors that similar suits are being filed elsewhere in the state — like Auburn, Bangor, Lewiston and Portland — and in about 40 municipalities in the nation.
Lawsuits are being filed by municipalities individually, rather than a class action suit as was the case when tobacco manufacturers were sued.
In the tobacco lawsuit, Bennett said, funds were distributed to the states to spend as they saw fit. By filing individually, any funding awarded as a result of these suits will go to each community that wins a suit or receives a settlement
“It’s at the local level that the costs occur,” he said.
Local police deal with burglary, theft, domestic violence and other crimes that often result from substance use and/or drug seeking behavior, said Christine Ohman, who writes grant applications for the city. And local rescue services are usually the first on the scene when a drug overdose is reported.
In Biddeford funding also goes to a program to help connect opioid uses with resources to help their recovery. In a joint venture with Saco, Biddeford formed the People Recover Program — formerly called the Saco-Biddeford Opiate Outreach Initiative — which serves those struggling with opioid addiction and their families in both communities. The initiative is one of four pilot programs in Maine funded by a state grant — that Ohman wrote the application for —but both Biddeford and Saco contribute funding to the program. The state provided $98,000 and together, Biddeford and Saco contributed a total of about $20,000 for the two-year program. Funding runs out it October.
City Manager Bennett said the state has already indicated it will not provide additional funding for the program and the twin cities must decide whether they want to continue it with only local funding, if no other alternative is found. He said the staff believes the program has been very successful.
Bennett said the lawsuit is being filed because “We believe that the practices of the pharmaceutical industry had more taking (opioids) than was needed.” The suit seeks that drug companies change their practices of how opioids are prescribed and provide “financial relief to taxpayers who are paying the bill.”
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With Trump MIA on Opioids, Here Come the Lawyers (EDITORIAL)
Jan 12, 2018 | Bloomberg
By Joe Nocera
How is the U.S. going to end its opioid crisis?
The answer really shouldn’t be that difficult. The president goes on TV to declare a national emergency. He increases the budget of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration by several billion dollars, with the money earmarked for curbing opioid addiction. The Department of Health and Human Services cracks down on excessive opioid distribution, while the Justice Department goes after opioid manufacturers like Purdue Pharma Inc., distributors like McKesson Corp. 1 and egregious overprescribing doctors. At the same time, the government underwrites therapies that block opioid cravings and takes other steps to help addicts break the habit. As the number of opioid-related deaths declines, the president takes a victory lap as his re-election nears.
Inexplicably, President Donald Trump seems uninterested in taking these obvious steps. Yes, he created an opioid commission, whose recommendations he has ignored, and declared a “national health emergency.” But instead of adding funding, he actually proposed cutting the substance abuse budget by $400 million. And of course nothing signaled Trump’s lack of seriousness than the person he named to be his “opioid czar”: Kellyanne Conway, the spinmeister best known for rebranding Trump’s fantasies as “alternative facts.”
One unique aspect of American culture is that when the government won’t stop corporate wrongdoing, the plaintiff’s bar rushes in to fill the void. Without question, plaintiff’s lawyers have made a difference — many products are safer, and many corporate behaviors have changed because of lawsuits or the threat of lawsuits.
But using litigation to effect change also has its critics, who say that Congress, not the legal system, should do that kind of work; that the lawyers are motivated more by the fees than the problem; and that there are far too many lawsuits where the evidence ofwrongdoing is thin. And yes, I’ve been one of those critics.
I remember in particular the tobacco litigation of the mid-1990s, in which plaintiff’s lawyers teamed up with states to sue Big Tobacco, vowing to eradicate smoking. Instead, the tobacco companies settled for $246 billion, enriching both the states and the lawyers. Although the settlement included some changes in how companies could market cigarettes, few in the anti-tobacco community believe that the settlement has made much of a difference. Though smoking rates have declined, there are still 400,000 Americans who die each year from cigarettes.
And who else is there to tackle opioids? Who else has the resources, the skill, the stamina and the financial incentive to go toe-to-toe with a powerful company like McKesson, which, with $192 billion in revenue, ranks fifth on the Fortune 500? Only the plaintiff’s lawyers.
Thus it was that starting about a year and a half ago, prominent plaintiff’s firms began filing lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors. Marie Napoli, a partner in the New York firm of Napoli Shkolnik, had several friends whose children had died because of opioids. The firm threw together a TV ad asking people suffering from opioid addiction to get in touch.
“We were inundated with calls,” Napoli said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It gave us insight into the depth of the problem.”
What she and her partners soon discovered, however, was that suing on behalf of individuals was not a winning strategy.
“In a lot of states, you had to sue the doctor for medical malpractice,” Napoli told me. “You were prevented from suing the manufacturer or the distributor.” In addition, because the plaintiffs were addicts, they had often committed crimes of one sort or another to get their fix. A jury was unlikely to find them sympathetic. The question became, Napoli said, “How do we overcome this?”
The way was by shifting to a different kind of client: cities and counties. By now, Napoli Shkolnik has 120 clients, including cities and counties in Ohio, New York, Florida and elsewhere. And they are hardly alone. Paul Farrell, a plaintiff’s lawyer in Huntington, West Virginia, has some 200 clients. Motley Rice, a South Carolina firm that was a big player in the tobacco litigation, has dozens of clients. And so on.
Mike Moore, who helped drive the tobacco litigation when he was Mississippi’s attorney general, has joined forces with Mississippi and Ohio to sue the opioid manufacturers. Dozens of other states have filed their own suits or are considering it. But while Moore’s efforts have gotten the most publicity, the suits by the cities and counties probably matter more. For one thing, there will probably be thousands of them by the time they’re all filed, so they have the potential to bury the drug companies in lawsuits. For another, it matters more to them. Much more than state governments, it’s the cities and counties that are bearing the brunt of opioid abuse.
The suits target manufacturers, distributors and a handful of doctors who were known within the industry as “key opinion leaders,” and who spread the gospel that opioid pain-killers weren’t addictive. (They were usually paid for their work by the manufacturers.)
The cities and counties are charging that the manufacturers made claims about their products that they knew were false, and that distributors handed out opioids like they were candy and ignored federal mandates to report suspicious purchases.
“This is a town of 100,000 people,” said Farrell, the Huntington, West Virginia lawyer. “And yet 6.5 million opioids came in here in a decade.”
In addition, the suits allege that the makers and distributors of opioids created “a public nuisance” by forcing cities and counties to hire more first-responders and deal with higher crime and overburdened health-care facilities. The cities and counties want the defendants to reimburse them for the financial burden they have imposed; first-responders alone can consume as much as one-third of a municipal budget in hard-hit areas, according to Paul Napoli, another partner at Napoli Shklonik (and Marie Napoli’s husband).
There’s another reason cities and counties prefer to bring their own lawsuits: they don’t want a replay of the tobacco settlement. Back then, they left matters to the states, expecting that some of the settlement money would trickle down to them. That didn’t happen. Although the funds were supposed to be used on anti-tobacco efforts, that mostly didn’t happen either. Most states used the money to fill holes in their budgets.
These lawsuits won’t be easy for the localities to win. Richard Ausness, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law, told me that one problem was that opioids all came with an addiction warning mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. That would potentially serve as a shield for the manufacturers. Many of the opioids are generics, and thanks to a 2013 Supreme Court ruling, generic drugmakers can’t be sued for making a defective product when they simply copy a brand-name drug.
Ausness said that there are states that bar damage claims for economic losses caused by a public nuisance. And he raised an issue about plaintiff’s lawyers: Because the lawyers work on a contingency-fee basis, “They’re going to want a quick settlement,” Ausness said.
The lawyers I spoke to say otherwise. “Nobody has ever accused me of giving up for a little bit of money,” said Paul Napoli. He insisted that the goal isn’t just to force a financial settlement on the drug companies, but to force them to make “substantial changes.” Previous government penalties for regulatory violations — McKesson paid a $150 million fine last year for failing to report suspicious orders of “controlled substances” — haven’t done the trick, he added; the only thing that’s likely to work is unrelenting litigation.
Farrell was even more adamant. “We’ve had 10 shootings in the past 10 days,” he told me. “We now have drug gangs in Huntington, West Virginia — and drug hits. We are laying off police because we don’t have enough money.”
I wish the Trump administration was willing to put in the effort to come up with an abatement plan, and then to fund it. I worry that the nice-sounding vows of the lawyers will be forgotten in a global settlement like the one involving tobacco. I fear that the cases will end and the crisis won’t.
The plaintiffs’ bar can be a force for good. Let's hope this is one of those times.
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Bill would tax some opioid sales to fund addiction treatment
Jan 12, 2018 | The Oklahoman (OK)
By Meg Wingerter
Manufacturers, distributors and others involved in selling opioids in Oklahoma could be forced to help fund addiction treatment under a bill publicly announced Thursday.
Rep. Tim Downing, a Republican who prides himself on opposing tax increases, showed the Attorney General’s opioid commission a draft of a bill that would levy a 10 percent tax on the first sale of opioids in Oklahoma — most likely to a distributor. The proceeds would go to the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for opioid treatment.
Downing said he intended for manufacturers and distributors to absorb the tax on that first sale, rather than passing it on to patients and insurance companies on subsequent sales, but it isn’t clear whether the bill could prevent them from doing so. Opioids prescribed to treat addiction, such as methadone and buprenorphine, would be exempt from the tax.
Before a tax increase could become law, it would have to garner support from three-quarters of both houses of the Legislature, and Gov. Mary Fallin would have to sign off. Efforts to squeeze around those rules by labeling taxes and fees promptly went down before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, blowing a $215-million hole in the budget, which lawmakers have yet to fully close.
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Opioid decision shows lack of common sense (LETTER TO THE EDITOR)
Jan 9, 2018 | The Courier Tribune (NC)
By Bobby Thompson
I was the only public speaker during the county commissioners meeting concerning the opioid lawsuit. I relayed my family’s experience with opioids and tried to educate the commissioners on the crisis and its origins.
It was blatantly obvious they were already convinced, prior to this meeting, that suing the Big Three Pharma would be the way to go. They only seemed concerned that the state would confiscate the funds from the county, and not to the nature and origin of the issue. They threw softball questions at the attorneys who should have been debated about their information. The lawyers said the Big Three should be sued because they had misled the physicians on the addictive nature of opioids.
Opioids have been used for pain for thousands of years and I find it hard to believe that physicians who go to school for 12-plus years are unaware of their addictive nature. If polled, even the most uneducated persons would respond that these drugs are addictive. Prescriptions for opioids are up 400 percent in the last 15 years and are in direct correlation with the addiction rate during the same period. This is not the first opioid crisis in America and will not be the last.
I was sadly disappointed in the health director’s speech about her efforts to meet with this agency and that agency to discuss this issue. The cause and remedy are clear. Physicians are over-prescribing opioids. The Big Three Pharma could not sell one dose legally and could not exist without physicians. The percentage of responsibility are: Physicians, 75; addict, 20; Big Pharma, 5. The vast majority of addicts get their first experience with opioids from being prescribed them and later find themselves addicted to the chemical reactions they cause in the brain.
The funds recovered, if any, would come from Big Pharma but would only be passed on to the legal consumers of these products and would serve as a tax on the poor, medically challenged and addicted. The commissioners did not vote to recover funds but to burden its citizens with the cost while enriching the legal profession.
This experience into local politics left me deeply saddened by the process and its profound lack of common sense.
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Judge Asks for Quick Resolution to Opioid Litigation
Jan 11, 2018 | Legal Reader
By Sara E. Teller
A large federal lawsuit filed by Delray Beach seeks to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for contributing to the opioid crisis. The case, which alleges deceptive marketing practices by pharmaceutical companies that manufacture prescription painkillers, as well as claims drug wholesales bough more pain pills than needed in areas plagued by addiction, is one of more than 180 pertaining to the litigation, and federal judge, U.S. District Judge Dan Polster of Ohio who was nominated for appointment by President Clinton, is seeking a quick resolution.
Delray Beach has been inundated with a large number of sober homes, halfway house for those newly sober, as well as an increase in the number of opioid overdoses. These statistics led to its inclusion in the litigation. Florida as a state has not yet made a decision to join the lawsuit, although it has been greatly affected by the epidemic.
Those filing the lawsuit want pharmaceutical companies to pay for the funds spent fighting the opioid crisis, including addiction and hospital overdose treatment and law enforcement costs and employment costs such as health care of government workers and absenteeism. They are also seeking ancillary costs related to the consequences and treatment of addiction.
“If you’re a pharmaceutical company and you’ve manufactured or marketed an opioid in the last 15 years, you’re probably named here. Similarly, if you’re a wholesaler, you’re probably named here,” said James Young, a Jacksonville-based attorney with the Morgan and Morgan firm. Young is among the many attorneys representing the governments. “It’s a very big problem that’s been brewing for years, and it’s hard to un-ring the bell.”
Polster of pushed Tuesday for the pharmaceutical manufacturers and governments to settle quickly, noting that the United States is at risk this year of seeing life expectancy go down for the third straight year, stating, “this [crisis] is 100 percent manmade. I’m pretty ashamed that this has occurred while I’ve been around.”
However, despite the push for a fast settlement, Young predicted that the litigation would involve months of discovery, test cases and monthly meetings before the judge. He doesn’t feel a quick resolution is plausible.
Last week, state Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking for an update to the state’s investigations into the marketing practices of the pharmaceutical companies that contributed to the epidemic. “We have not received any update from your office or in the media on the status of this investigation, including whether your office has received responses from drug companies,” he wrote. “I would like to know whether your office has taken any steps outside of the multi-state investigation to determine whether these drug companies should be held liable for their role in the opioid crisis.”
A direct response has yet to be received. However, Bondi spokesperson Whitney Ray stated, “The multi-state investigation our office is co-leading is active and ongoing. Furthermore, we remain prepared to litigate as necessary and will make the decision as to when and where to file at the appropriate time.”
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Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx Has Hard-Earned Ideas For Battling The Opioid Crisis
Jan 12, 2018 | Fast Company
By Melissa Locker
Mötley Crüe was a hard-rocking band, and Nikki Sixx, the bassist and cofounder, may have been the hardest rocker of them all. He chronicled it all in his New York Times best-selling memoir The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star. To call it a tell-all is an understatement—some of the stories and photos were so raw and graphic that they even gave Sixx pause.
“There are some diary entries that I asked the publisher, like are you guys sure you want all of this?” said Sixx. “But it is real.”
The book graphically details his spiral into an addiction that quite literally killed him. “For two minutes in 1987 I was pronounced clinically dead from an overdose,” he wrote in a powerful op-ed in the Los Angeles Times earlier this year.Ten years after it was published, Sixx’s book is still a must-read, but not just for metal heads seeking dirt about the hard-rock scene. In the context of America’s opioid epidemic, it serves as a manual for understanding the realities of a public-health crisis that killed more than 42,000 people in 2016.
While Sixx has many things on his plate—photography, developing a musical based on The Heroin Diaries, writing music with his band Sixx:A.M.—he has recently become a vocal spokesperson on ways to combat opioid addiction. He’s lived it, after all. In addition to the op-ed, he has called on President Trump to follow through on the White House’s interim report, which urged a greater focus on treatment for addicts, education about pain management for doctors, and called out the drug manufacturers for their role in the crisis.
Sixx consider himself “one of the lucky ones,” but he is not one to do things quietly and has no plans to stand on the sidelines while overdose deaths continue to pile up. Instead, he is speaking out, becoming one of the few celebrities to lend his voice to the cause, and he’s hoping others will join him in his crusade.
We caught up with Sixx in New York City to talk about using hard-fought lessons to combat the opioid crisis.
Fast Company: You have been really open about your experience with heroin. What made you decide you to come forward?
Nikki Sixx: I mean, when I found those original journals, it jarred me, because I was so far gone. As they say, it’s daily recovery. I don’t think about heroin or cocaine or alcohol daily anymore, but I’m aware that it’s there. I found the journals, the diaries and scratches of paper in these boxes, and I called my manager and asked if it would be career suicide to release these. But I am in Mötley Crüe, so I don’t know if there is such a thing as career suicide. [Laughs.]
The idea was to pull all the stories from the people in your life that you’ve been around when you were sober, and when you were using, and what it was like for them—band members, mom, sister, grandparents, ex-managers and such. That really is a lot about what recovery is about—sharing your story. That’s what that book was about. If you go to prison and you talk to the people in prison, they tell you these hardcore stories. It’s real. I was just being honest.
FC: In the ’90s, there was a lot of heroin use and “heroin chic” that went along with it.
NS: There’s nothing chic about it. It’s like smoking. There’s nothing cool about it.
FC: What made you want to address that?
NS: We were coming up on the 10-year anniversary of The Heroin Diaries,and I really wanted to go back in and address it again. As we age and as we evolve, how do you deal with things like I went through [with] a lot of surgeries from performing ? I had to have my hip replaced, I had two hernias, rotator cuffs fixed, blown-out knee. You’ll see a lot of pro-football players in their 50s and they are pretty banged up. It’s the same thing with rock n’ rollers, especially the ones that went out with more of a punk-rock attitude and really threw themselves into it.
So you know I had to get surgeries and deal with pain management, and I thought it was a good time to talk about that, because a lot of people are getting addicted or re-addicted from prescriptions. They are too loose with writing prescriptions. They’re writing too big quantities of prescription, and I just thought it was a good time to kind of re-open this conversation with what’s going on. A lot of people in theirs 20s are right in the midst of the opioid crisis, whether it’s them personally or family members or friends. It’s a good conversation to have.
You mentioned heroin chic and that opium den seems glamorous. You think of Keith Richards and Johnny Thunders and rock ‘n’ roll and models. But you know what it is? It’s a casket. It’s a fucking casket, and every single time, you either get off or you die. And I want to talk about that.
FC: Do you have any idea why so few people are willing to come out now about the opioid crisis?
NS: Like any time we can crack the top on the bottle and get the conversation going, more people will step up to the plate. And I know, at one point, that the new administration had talked about “it’s an opioid crisis,” so they were going to really focus on that. But last I checked, there hadn’t been much done. I do hope other people would jump on and share their experiences, and we’ve been trying to do that. We created a heat map on our web page, and you can check in there and you can see these hotbeds of addiction, and you can talk about your experiences. The audience was really open to that, and we’re finding that, when we can, we’ll talk about it and talk about it in solution-based ways, and not really glamorizing stuff.
It’s the prescription thing that’s really severely scary to me. It’s the scariest. I had to go to the street to get it. We were just partying, and then it turned into an addiction. But now the kids are just taking, just carrying in their pocket. It is a pill. You can wrap it up in a tissue, and stick in their backpack and no one knows. It’s not like a syringe, or they’re smoking and some and chasing the dragon. So there’s there’s a lot of opportunity for really horrible things to happen in secret. A lot of the young kids are getting into it and they’re trading it in the schoolyard.
When I was growing up, some kid we knew had a joint and it was like, “Wow, that guy’s got pot.” Now there’s kids that have pockets full of Oxy, and it’s really scary, and a lot of them are dying. That’s what’s happening in the opioid crisis.
FC: Having been through addiction and come out the other side, how do you dissuade people from ever getting started?
NS: I’m trying to say this in a non-narcissistic way, but musicians have draw. My goal is to be someone who people can look at and go, That guy’s been around for a long time and he’s clean sober and he’s still cool. He’s still writing cool music. He does radio. He paints. He does photography. I would like sobriety to look pretty cool. There’s got to be some kind of cool role models, especially for young kids.
I would love to see some young artists in their 20s and 30s that have experience to talk about this, because they really have the audience’s ear, especially on social media. If you have a voice, if you have a profile, use it. And obviously, I wouldn’t want people to talk to people who have no experience with drugs, like the DARE thing in the U.S. No one really believed the housewives who told the kids not to do drugs. We thought it was funny.
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Senators unclear on Trump's comment about opioid crisis
Jan 12, 2018 | CNN Politics
By Ashley Killough
As lawmakers gathered in the Oval Office Wednesday night for a bipartisan bill signing to combat opioids, President Donald Trump made one comment that left some wondering what he meant.
The new law gives US Customs and Border Protection more screening devices to detect fentanyl and other opioids that are being imported to the country. Trump said it feels like a "very giant step" in the opioid crisis but argued "it's not going to be a giant step, because no matter what you do, this is something that keeps pouring" into the country."
The President said he had the answer to the problem."There is an answer. I think I actually know the answer, but I'm not sure the country is ready for it yet," he said, before looking around at some of the lawmakers. "Does anybody know what I mean? I think so."
Some senators -- who attended the bill signing and are well versed on the opioid issue -- were puzzled by the comment when asked about them Thursday."I had no idea what answer that is," said Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican. "I was intrigued, too, I'd like to know.
""Yeah, I wondered about that," said West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. "I didn't follow up and ask.
"The West Virginia Republican continued: "When he said that, I thought, 'Uh, good for you if that's actually what he thinks?' But it's more complicated than one silver bullet."
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said, "I remember something like that," before later adding: "I think the answer is, unfortunately, a lot of different things."
"I don't have any idea what the President was talking about," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat. "I don't know if he even knew what he was talking about.
"Asked if she had an idea as to what he was referring to, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, said, "Not at all."
The White House has not responded to a request to explain Trump's comment.
Given that the bill involved Customs and Border Protection, Capito said Trump was maybe talking about some sort of border security measure.
Brown didn't speculate on what the President meant, but he does hope part of Trump's solution involves more funding for treatment centers to help those with addiction.
Portman said he thought perhaps the President was talking about prevention measures. "I think it may have been the prevention side because that's ultimately the answer here to how you keep people from falling into this."
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Jan 12, 2018 | KOKI (FOX)
By Tulsa, OK
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31915657?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Rough Transcript: oak is the first state in the nation to set a drail date for a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers. we told you in june when attorney general mike hunter announced the state's lawsuit. a cleveland county judge recently granted the request for trial. the --
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Jan 11, 2018 | KWTV (CBS)
By Oklahoma City, OK
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31918370?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Rough Transcript:a cleveland county judge set the date today, despite some push back from the defendants. neat 6. the trial is now set for may 2019, but lawyers for the opioid manufacturers argue this case is too complex to be ready that soon. originally filed last summer, attorney general mike hunter's lawsuit outlines the effects these drugs have had on oklahomans. he says nearly 3- thousand people have died of overdoses in the past three years alone, and more than 13- hundred babies have been born with opioids in their system in the same time frame. the more time that elapses before we can get a handle on this, the more the people of this state are hurt, so we're happy with the judge's decision. the defense attorneys argue that because of the scope of this case, it will take more than the 16 months allotted to gather all the documents necessary to move forward. plus, judge thad balkmaruled that the case will need a discovery master to oversee all the evidence for both sides, which could also lengthen the process. there will be a decision by the special master, and then there's an appeal that goes to the judge, so that happe frequently the defense declined to comment today -- but in the courtroom they did encourage the state to instead join a federal lawsuit based in ohio. hunter says he wants a jury of oklahomans to decide their fate -- and he wants the resulting damages to be placed in a trust to fund treatment and rehabilitation for those still battling addiction. they need to be held accountable. the damage to this state is in the billions of dollars and it's time that they were able to give money back to the state so we can start getting people well. the next phase of this case will be determing who the discovery master will be. the judge hopes to have that person identified within the next month.
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Jan 12, 2018 | KFOR (NBC)
By Oklahoma City, OK
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31916163?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Rough Transcript: new developments in our state's lawsuit against opioid manufacturers -- a trial date is set. oklahoma is the first state in the nation to see legal action against big pharma move forward. according to the oklahoma bureau of narcotics - in the last three years almost three thousand oklahomans have died from opio overdoses. in june 2017, the state decided to take many drug companies to court. the state pushing for may 2019 and the judge granted it. but lawyers with the pharmaceutical companies are arguing that wasn't enough time for them to prepare. 10:53.43 they made these decisions, they made these corporate strategies decisions to misrepresent the addicted quality of these drugs and to market them hand over fist around this country and they need to be held accountable. lawyers with the pharmaceutical companies chose not to comment on the matter. both sides have till january 22 to present the judge with an appointee to help oversee mediation.
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Jan 12, 2018 | KHBS (ABC)
By Ft. Smith, AR
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31916679?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Rough Transcript: the oklahoma opioid commission meets for the final time before taking its proposals to the state legislature. attorney general mike hunter says right now they're looking into different treatments and rehabilitation programs. they're also looking to prevent children and infants from being born addicted to opioids. he says they're looking at the epidemic globally to help in their proposals. the numbers are still coming in, but oklahoma is on track to have 1,000 opioid related deaths from 2017. a trial date is set for a lawsuit against several pharmaceutical companies. it will start in may of 2019. attorney general mike hunter filed the lawsuit last summer, saying deceptive marketing helped grow the opioid epidemic. the judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit in december.
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WECT News, Carolina in the Morning
Jan 12, 2018 | WECT (NBC)
By Wilmington, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31917202?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Rough Transcript: the opioid crisis needs a solution and one federal judge is on a mission to find it. judge dan polster is overseeing over 200 lawsuits filed by cities and counties against drug makers and manufacturers. that includes the suit filed by new hanover county, which has seen a 15-hundred percent increase in opioid-related deaths since 1999.. hundreds gathered in a courtroom in clevecoland this week for the first hearing in thein case. during that hearing, judge polster said...this is 100 percent manmade. now, i'm pretty n ashamed that this has occurred while i've been around. so i think we all should be."
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Jan 11, 2018 | WCPO (ABC)
By Cincinnati, OH
VIDEO LINK :http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31915089?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Rough Transcript: ohio's top attorney is siting down with drug manufacturers to work out funding for treating drug abuse. abuse.it's part of a potential settlement after ohio sued opioid manufacturers -- claiming they iresponsibly promoted and sold adictive opioids.two companies - "johnson and johnson" an "teva" - met with attorne general mike dewine today. dewine expects more metings before a setlement is reached.
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Jan 12, 2018 | WSOC (ABC)
By Charlotte, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31917216?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Rough Transcript: gaston county is the latest to file a lawsuit against the drug companies blamed for the opioid cris. that is according to our partners at the gazette. the county is accusing manufacturers of improperly reporting opioids. not reporting it to the federal government. county commissioners hired lawyers from five states and say that they will not be paid unless money is one in the suit. they say no taxpayer money will be spent.
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Jan 12, 2018 | WFXG (Fox)
By Augusta-Aiken, GA
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31915125?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Rough Transcript: augusta is joining the fight againstopioid distributors and manufacturers. the city has filed a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical drug manufacturers and wholesale drug distributors. destiny: all around the country.... governments are taking action against the companies for fueling the crisis in their communities. many argue that they have failed to report suspicious activity to the d-e-a.. in the size of shipments to pharmacies and hospitals. according to the georgia department of public health..... in 20-16..... 982 people died due to opioiddrug overdoses in the state.
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Jan 12, 2018 | WMTW (ABC)
By Portland, ME
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31916684?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Rough Transcript: biddeford now joining the list of maine cities suing pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and distribute opioids. the city manager says the goal of the lawsuit is to change prescribg behaviors and recoup costs. he adds that although states have had some costs, the real price has been paid by individual cities and towns. an outcome of the suit is likely years away.
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Jan 12, 2018 | WFTC (MNT)
By Minneapolis, MN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/31917744?token=6d754dd3-62f9-43cc-9f86-e7521a9d6950
Rough Transcript: anoka county filing a lawsuit against opioid makers, becoming the fifth county to do so. the suit filed in federal court showing the cost burdens because of the opioid epidemic. they said that the new opioids are danger and lied to protect billions of dollars in prophet. counties across the country filing similar suits in recent weeks.
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