Preview Newsletter
Opioid Litigation Daily Media Report -1/30/18
-
Tiny southern Colorado county sues giant opioid makers and distributors for millions
Jan 29, 2018 | The Denver Post (CO)
By Kirk Mitchell
Huerfano County is suing the nation’s top pharmaceutical companies and distributors, joining a growing national legal campaign that claims the companies are responsible for an epidemic of overdoses and deaths due to opioids. -
Huerfano County suing big drug companies for false advertising over opioid safety
Jan 29, 2018 | Fox 31 Denver (CO)
By Ashely Michels
A county in southern Colorado is suing a handful of major pharmaceutical companies, claiming they are responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic in their community. -
Southern Colorado County Sues More Than A Dozen Pharmaceutical Companies
Jan 29, 2018 | CBS Denver
By Karen Morfitt
A small southern Colorado county is the first in the state to take on some of the country’s major pharmaceutical companies. -
County in Colorado suing pharmaceutical companies in response to opiod crisis
Jan 29, 2018 | News Channel 13 (CO)
By Holly Morrison
Huerfano County is suing the nation's top pharmaceutical companies claiming that people are being falsely influenced to take highly-addictive opioids for pain management. -
Huerfano County, Colorado the latest small county suing opioid manufacturers over epidemic
Jan 29, 2018 | ABC 7 Denver (CO)
By Blair Miller
Huerfano County, Colorado is the latest U.S. community suing large prescription drug manufacturers in federal court, saying they have willfully caused the country’s opioid epidemic through questionable marketing to communities and doctors. -
GASTON COUNTY JOINS NATIONWIDE LAWSUIT AGAINST DRUG COMPANIES OVER OPIOID EPIDEMIC
Jan 29, 2018 | Spectrum News Charlotte (NC)
By Kristin Garriss
Gaston County has joined 15 other North Carolina cities and counties in a nationwide lawsuit against drug manufacturers over the opioid epidemic. -
Opioid crisis that has gone rampant in Gaston County, officials say
Jan 29, 2018 | WSOC TV (NC)
By Mark Barber
Gaston County is trying to hold opioid manufacturers accountable for the opioid crisis by taking them to court. -
Worth County Board of Supervisors joins group filing opioid lawsuit
Jan 29, 2018 | Globe Gazette (IA)
By Steve Bohnel
The Worth County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday morning to join an opioid lawsuit targeting out-of-state opioid manufacturers. -
Allen County considering multidistrict litigation over opioid crisis
Jan 29, 2018 | Hometown Stations (OH)
By Eran Hami
A state lawsuit is gaining traction in the western Ohio area. -
Clallam County to sue drug makers, distributors for damages in opioid crisis
Jan 30, 2018 | Peninsula Daily News
By Paul Gottlieb
Clallam County will join more than 200 other litigants in suing opioid makers and wholesale distributors in federal district court for damages from flooding the market with prescription opioids. -
Sessions announces new team to fight darknet opioid sales
Jan 29, 2018 | Washington Times
By Jeff Mordock
The Justice Department has formed a new team to fight online opioid sales, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Monday. -
How Many Opioid Pills Do You Need After Surgery?
Jan 29, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Sumathi Reddy
When Mark Greenberg had arthroscopic knee surgery in 2017 he was surprised he got a prescription for 50 pills of the pain reliever Percocet from a fellow doctor. Percocet contains oxycodone, an opioid commonly used to treat pain but has a high risk of addiction. -
Drug companies flooded West Virginia town of 2,900 with 20.8M pain pills
Jan 30, 2018 | Fox News
By Lukas Mikelionis
A congressional committee investigating the opioid crisis has discovered out-of-state drug companies shipped 20.8 million prescription painkillers over a decade to two pharmacies in a Southern West Virginia town with 2,900 people. -
These are the counties with the state's highest opioid prescription rates
Jan 30, 2018 | Press Connects (USA TODAY)
By Hannah Schwarz
From 2007 to 2016, opioid prescription rates in 26 New York counties increased. In Lewis County, with a population of just around 27,000, rates more than tripled. -
Two Men Sentenced for Possession of Enough Fentanyl to Kill Everyone in NYC and New Jersey
Jan 29, 2018 | Independent Journal Review
By William Vaillancourt
The New Jersey Attorney General's Office announced Friday that two men were sentenced to prison in connection with the largest fentanyl seizure in state history. -
Trump administration unclear on continuation of opioid 'emergency'
Jan 29, 2018 | ABC News
By Kendall Karson
President Donald Trump’s order declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency in October was set to expire last Tuesday — its 90-day mandate must be renewed upon expiration — leading to a lack of clarity in the commitment of the administration's response. -
DRUG LAWSUITS FILED BY LOCAL COUNTIES TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER COURT
Jan 29, 2018 | WTVA (OH)
By Staff
Lawsuits filed by three North Mississippi counties against drug companies over the opioid epidemic has been transferred to a federal court in Ohio. -
CBS4 This Morning - 6A
Jan 30, 2018 | KCNC (CBS)
By Denver, CO
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336801?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932 -
Daybreak-6A
Jan 30, 2018 | KWGN (CW)
By Denver, CO
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336807?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932 -
FOX31 Denver News at 9pm
Jan 30, 2018 | KDVR (Fox)
By Denver, CO
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336783?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932 -
11 News at 5 AM
Jan 30, 2018 | KKTV (CBS)
By Colorado Springs, CO
Video Link:http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336820?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932 -
Good Day Charlotte at 6a
Jan 30, 2018 | WJZY (Fox)
By Charlotte, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336827?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932 -
WCCB News Rising 5am
Jan 30, 2018 | WCCB (CW)
By Charlotte, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336832?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932 -
Spectrum News Your Morning News at 9
Jan 30, 2018 | NWS14 (Spectrum News)
By Charlotte, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#/report/4ec31976-558b-49d3-953a-ad55c83f5b45 -
News 2 at 10pm
Jan 29, 2018 | WKRN (ABC)
By Nashville, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336956?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932
Huerfano County, CO Suit
Southeast (NC)
Midwest (IA, OH)
Northwest (WA)
Commentary and FYIs
Broadcast Media Coverage
-
Tiny southern Colorado county sues giant opioid makers and distributors for millions
Jan 29, 2018 | The Denver Post (CO)
By Kirk Mitchell
Huerfano County is suing the nation’s top pharmaceutical companies and distributors, joining a growing national legal campaign that claims the companies are responsible for an epidemic of overdoses and deaths due to opioids.
The lawsuit is the first of its kind filed by a local government in Colorado. It claims that Huerfano residents were falsely induced to take highly addictive opioids for pain management. The lawsuit claims the opioid epidemic was caused by drug manufacturers engaging in fraudulent and deceptive marketing and by distributors who brought large amounts of opioids into the marketplace.
Although Huerfano is the first local government in Colorado to bring such a suit, the county isn’t alone nationally. It has become part of legal movement that is picking up steam. Philadelphia and Delaware filed lawsuits this month. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday also announced that New York City is suing drug companies to hold them responsible for the deadly opioid epidemic. And more than a dozen counties in New York filed similar lawsuits last year. Another case filed by the city of Chicago in 2014 remains active.
Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman has joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general across the country that is investigating whether, and possibly how, drug manufacturers broke any laws in marketing opioids.
“Our county is one of the hardest hit counties in Colorado,” Huerfano County administrator John Galusha said in a statement. “We need to stop this opioid epidemic before it becomes worse.”
He said in an interview that Stephen Ochs, a retired doctor and Colorado Springs lawyer who is one of several attorneys handling the lawsuit for the county, approached the county first and told officials that they would not have to pay if it lost the case.
“The compelling argument that Mr. Ochs had is that if the state is successful, the money will go to the state and not to the counties,” Galusha said. “This will hopefully help us mitigate direct impacts to the counties.”
Ochs has approached other local governments in Colorado. He appeared before the Alamosa County commissioners in December and the Las Animas County commissioners this month, urging them to join in multidistrict litigation against pharmaceutical manufacturers. Adams County officials also are considering suing.
The Huerfano County lawsuit seeks class-action status in U.S. District Court in Denver against pharmaceutical companies and distributors including McKesson Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and numerous subsidiaries.
The claim was filed Sunday for Huerfano County, one of Colorado’s most impoverished counties, by Ochs and Colorado Springs lawyer Patrick Mika, and Steven Skikos and Mark Crawford of San Francisco.
The southern Colorado county sued on behalf of its 6,400 residents to “protect the public” from businesses engaging in false advertising, the lawsuit says. The claim seeks at least $750,000 in economic damages and $1.5 million in future damages.
According to a recent joint investigation by The Washington Post and CBS’s “60 Minutes,” federal Drug Enforcement Administration investigators discovered McKesson was shipping the same quantities of opioid pills to small-town pharmacies in the San Luis Valley as it would typically ship to large drugstores next to big-city medical centers.
“McKesson [was] supplying enough pills to that community to give every man, woman and child a monthly dose of 30 to 60 tablets,” Helen Haupang, who retired from the DEA after 29 years on the job, told the news organizations.
The probe also discovered that Platte Valley Pharmacy in Brighton, population 38,000, was selling as many as 2,000 pain pills per day.
But John Parker, senior vice president for the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a trade group, said that the misuse and abuse of prescription opioids is a complex public-health challenge that requires a collaborative and systemic response that engages all stakeholders.
“Given our role, the idea that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and is regulated,” Parker said. “Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation.”
Only the DEA knows the quantity of drugs delivered to pharmacies in Huerfano County, he said. Companies like McKesson only know how much they deliver, not how much other pharmaceutical distributors send to specific stores.
The county is asking for a court order declaring that the pharmaceutical companies violated the federal False Advertising Law. It is also asking that the court enjoin the companies from continuing to make false statements.
Opioids once were considered so addictive that they were administered only in hospital settings under the direct supervision of doctors. “Before defendants’ calculated quest for profits, the use of opioids for medical treatment was extraordinary, exceptional or unusual,” the lawsuit says.
But in the late 1990s, the pharmaceutical companies implemented a scheme to create additional demand for opioid products including OxyContin, Percocet and hydrocodone, despite the “high likelihood of addiction,” the lawsuit says. The pharmaceutical companies manipulated training materials and scientific literature to make it appear the opioids were safe, the lawsuit says.
“The full specter of that harm is clearly evidenced by the opioid epidemic currently ravaging communities across the United States — including Huerfano County,” the lawsuit says.
Some estimates say 60 percent of the opioids that are abused originate through doctors’ prescriptions. Almost 80 percent of people who used heroin in 2016 in Colorado previously abused prescription drugs, the lawsuit says.
The pharmaceutical companies should have known that their “reckless” promotion and sale of millions of opioids for widespread use in Huerfano County for chronic pain management would lead to opioid poisoning, the lawsuit says.
For example, McKesson, one of the largest opioid producers in the U.S. with warehouses in Colorado, in May 2008 entered an agreement with the DEA to pay a $13.25 million civil fine after failing to maintain effective controls on controlled substances.
But the problem continued and in 2017, McKesson agreed to pay $150 million to the government for failing to report suspicious orders of the drugs, the lawsuit says.
McKesson representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Purdue Pharma actually knew the prescribing practices of thousands of Colorado doctors and had the ability to red flag doctors whose waiting rooms were overcrowded with the young, healthy or homeless, the lawsuit says. It maintained a database in 2002 of doctors suspected of inappropriately prescribing drugs. But it failed to report the doctors, the lawsuit says.
In 2014 alone, opioids generated $11 billion in revenue for drug companies including those cited in the lawsuit. The number of opioid deaths nationally rose from 16,917 in 2011 to 22,598 in 2015, the lawsuit says.
-
Huerfano County suing big drug companies for false advertising over opioid safety
Jan 29, 2018 | Fox 31 Denver (CO)
By Ashely Michels
A county in southern Colorado is suing a handful of major pharmaceutical companies, claiming they are responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic in their community.
Huerfano County filed a lawsuit Sunday against Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma L.P. and McKesson Corp.
The lawsuit alleges the companies knowingly distributed false advertising to doctors and patients, claiming opioid medications are safer than they really are.
“Each defendant began a sophisticated marketing and distribution scheme premised on deception to persuade doctors and patients that opioids can and should be used to treat chronic pain,” the lawsuit said.
According to data from the Colorado Department of Public Health, Huerfano County leads the state in the number of patients visiting emergency rooms and the number of hospitalizations from prescription opioid overdose.
However, the state admits the statistics might be inaccurate, misleading and inherently bias because of limited data.
Still, Huerfano County says prescription painkillers have caused a public health crisis in the community.
According to the lawsuit, the county has seen a steep increase in crime, homelessness and diseases stemming from drug use. It blames the drug companies for all of it.
“The explosion in opioid prescriptions and use caused by the defendants has led to a public health crisis in Colorado. Colorado faces skyrocketing opioid and opioid-related overdoses and deaths as well as devastating social and economic consequences,” the lawsuit says.
“The widespread use of opioids has created a population of patients physically and psychologically dependent on them.”
According to the lawsuit, Huerfano County wants prescription drug companies to stop “unlawful promotion and distribution of opioids, to correct their misrepresentations and to abate the public nuisance they have created.”
The county is also seeking $750,000 in tax money spent fixing problems associated with the opioid epidemic. It is also asking the court for an additional $1.5 million for future costs.
Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a trade association representing defendants McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, said the distributors are helping regulate the industry.
“The misuse and abuse of prescription opioids is a complex public health challenge that requires a collaborative and systemic response that engages all stakeholders," senior vice president John Parker said in a statement.
"Given our role, the idea that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and is regulated.
"Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation.”
HDA said its members do not prescribe, dispense or in any way, drive demand. Distributors also report every opioid order to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
-
Southern Colorado County Sues More Than A Dozen Pharmaceutical Companies
Jan 29, 2018 | CBS Denver
By Karen Morfitt
A small southern Colorado county is the first in the state to take on some of the country’s major pharmaceutical companies.
Huerfano County filed suit on behalf of its 6,400 residents, naming 12 drug companies and claiming they are largely responsible for the opioid addiction impact affecting their community.
The lawsuit claims the deceptive marketing and distribution scheme of companies like Purdue and Mckesson led to a public health crisis, one that has hit especially hard in southern Colorado.
In a recent report by the Washington Post and 60 minutes, DEA investigators say Mckesson, which distributes out of Aurora, was sending the same quantities of opioid pills to small-town pharmacies in Colorado’s San Luis Valley as it would typically ship to large drugstores next to big city medical centers.
Retired DEA investigator and former supervisor Helen Kaupang told 60 minutes, “McKesson is supplying enough pills to that community to give every man woman and child a monthly dose of 30 to 60 tablets,”
The suit aims to hold those drug companies responsible for the fallout; tax dollars already spent on addiction treatment, emergency response and law enforcement as well as any future costs they might endure.
Huerfano joins a number of other counties across the country suing the opioid industry that is in addition to the 41 State Attorneys General including Colorado who are also suing.
-
County in Colorado suing pharmaceutical companies in response to opiod crisis
Jan 29, 2018 | News Channel 13 (CO)
By Holly Morrison
Huerfano County is suing the nation's top pharmaceutical companies claiming that people are being falsely influenced to take highly-addictive opioids for pain management.
here is currently a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver against pharmaceutical companies such as McKesson Corp., Johnson & Johnson, and Purdue Pharma.
Huerfano County is seeking at least $750,000 in economic damages and $1.5 million in future damages.
The lawsuit was filed on Sunday, according to the Denver Post.The County is asking for a court order that would state that the pharmaceutical companies violated the federal False Advertising Law.
-
Huerfano County, Colorado the latest small county suing opioid manufacturers over epidemic
Jan 29, 2018 | ABC 7 Denver (CO)
By Blair Miller
Huerfano County, Colorado is the latest U.S. community suing large prescription drug manufacturers in federal court, saying they have willfully caused the country’s opioid epidemic through questionable marketing to communities and doctors.
Colorado and California-based lawyers for the county filed the suit Sunday in U.S. District Court of Colorado in Denver. They say the county has suffered economic damages of at least $750,000 already, and is expected to incur $1.5 million in further economic damages because of the drug companies’ actions.
The suit asks the court to find that the companies knowingly disseminated “false and misleading” statements about their drugs in violation of the False Advertising Law; to enjoin them from falsely marketing opioids in the future; to have the companies award the county thousands in damages, and to have them pay the county’s court costs.
“Absent each Defendant’s deceptive marketing scheme and improper distribution, opioid prescribing, use, misuse, abuse, and addiction would not have become so widespread, and the opioid epidemic that now exists would have been averted or much less severe,” the lawsuit says.
It says the companies, which include Colorado-based McKesson Corporation, “falsely” downplayed the risk of opioids and “grossly exaggerate[ed]” their benefits through “false advertising and unfair competition,” which “created or assisted in the creation of a public nuisance.”
The lawyers write that the approximately 6,400 people in Huerfano County would be protected from the manufacturers should the court find in its favor.
They say the companies switched their marketing and distribution campaigns in the late 1990s to persuade doctors and patients that opioids were the best treatment for people with chronic pain, and that they did so knowing their ideas “were not supported by or were directly contrary to the scientific evidence.”
The companies have been making upwards of $10 billion each year off opioid sales in recent years, the suit says, adding to their bottom lines “at the expense of chronic pain patients.”
Opioid overdose deaths actually fell 6 percent in 2016 to their lowest levels in Colorado in six years, after increasing from 2000 to 2015.
But heroin overdoses rose by 23 percent from the year before. Heroin overdoses have jumped by more than 750 percent in Colorado over the past decade-plus.
According to last year’s “Opioid Use in Colorado” report, 9 percent of prescriptions written were for opioids—down from 11.3 percent in 2013. But the number of babies in Colorado experiencing Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome from opioid withdrawals increase by 91 percent from 2012 to 2016. Opioid-related ER visits were up 141 percent since 2005, according to state data.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Colorado had one of the lower prescribing rates in 2016 among U.S. states, at 59.8 prescriptions written per 100 people.
Huerfano County’s rate was 80.6 prescriptions per 100 people. Though that was higher than many state averages, 11 other Colorado counties had prescribing rates higher than Huerfano County’s, with neighboring Alamosa County’s rate coming in at 152.4 prescriptions per 100 people—the highest in the state.
But the suit says that Huerfano has been particularly impacted by the number of homeless addicts who now live in the area. It says that the drug companies’ marketing and distribution schemes has also brought people to the county for rehab services.
“Unscrupulous opioid rehabilitation businesses, including certain DOE Defendants, have recruited addicts nationally with false and misleading promises of the medically supervised rehabilitation to help addicts overcome their addiction,” it says.
But it says the for-profit rehab services have “failed to provide proper” services or facilities, have given addicts “substandard care,” and have even employed physicians whose licenses had been revoked.
The suit says the facilities “provide substandard care as long as there are third party payments available, and then throw them out of the facilities to be homeless in Huerfano County.”
It says that as such, the industry has put the burden to care for those addicts, and to resolve any of their criminal activity, on taxpayers of the county.
Though Huerfano County is the first in Colorado to file a suit of this nature, similar lawsuits have been filed by cities and counties across the countryover the past several years.
Several of the companies named in the suit have paid massive fines for questionable opioid shipments, and though none could immediately be reached for comment Monday regarding the Huerfano County suit, most companies have denied the claims in similar lawsuits.
The state has also either unveiled or implemented several measures aimed at continuing to reduce the impact of the opioid epidemic in Colorado.
The Colorado Hospital Association last week released results of a pilot program aimed at reducing the number of opioids prescribed at 10 emergency departments across the state.
Though the pilot only sought a 15-percent reduction in opioid prescriptions, the ERs achieved a 36-percent reduction.
The state legislature also has a package of six bills backed by both parties aimed at opioid addiction treatment and prevention lined up for this session, and among those are a pilot program that would allow Denver to start a supervised injection site. Lawmakers recently traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to have a look at their supervised injection sites.
-
GASTON COUNTY JOINS NATIONWIDE LAWSUIT AGAINST DRUG COMPANIES OVER OPIOID EPIDEMIC
Jan 29, 2018 | Spectrum News Charlotte (NC)
By Kristin Garriss
Gaston County has joined 15 other North Carolina cities and counties in a nationwide lawsuit against drug manufacturers over the opioid epidemic.
Attorneys said they're also suing wholesale distributors for failing to report suspicious orders of prescription drugs.
“In doing that, the deal hasn't been able to do its job of properly monitoring the flow of opioid which has allowed the diversion into illicit hands for illicit purposes,” said Garry Whitaker, one of the attorneys representing the county.
Gastonia pastor Steven Black said he's hopeful this lawsuit will make a difference, but he wants to see more resources for counseling.
“People to talk to, people to get connected with to get the right people in your life and around you to hold you accountable because abusing the drugs needs to be held accountable as well,” said Pastor Black at Bethlehem Church.
This lawsuit won't cost the county anything. Attorneys said if they win a case, the money from damages would cover legal fees and the rest would go back into the community for prevention.
Pastor Black said they're starting a recovery program with counselors and resources for addicts and their families later this year at Bethlehem Church in Gastonia.
-
Opioid crisis that has gone rampant in Gaston County, officials say
Jan 29, 2018 | WSOC TV (NC)
By Mark Barber
Gaston County is trying to hold opioid manufacturers accountable for the opioid crisis by taking them to court.
Earlier in January, Mecklenburg County announced it is also preparing to sue over the deadly epidemic.
In Gaston County, community leaders met on Monday to discuss the painful problems the crisis is creating for taxpayers and hurting families.
"Every family in this county is affected by the opioid crisis," said Paul Coates, one of the attorneys who is representing the county.
He met with Gaston County's commissioners and law enforcement leaders.
"People are dying. They're dying at a high rate," Coates said.
There have been 57 people who have died of opiate overdoses in Gaston County in 2016, according to the most recent data from North Carolina's public health survey.
That's a 375 percent increase in deaths in Gaston County since 1999.
In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found there were more painkiller prescriptions than people in Gaston County.
“For every man, woman and child in Gaston County, you have 1.2 prescriptions of opioids," Coats said.
Attorneys said it's possible more than 10 percent of the county's entire budget goes toward fighting the epidemic. That's why they're now fighting back against the drug manufacturers who promised patients the opioid medications were safe and not addictive.
A judge is expected to resolve the lawsuit in 2018 or take it to trial in 2019.
If the county wins the lawsuit, the drug companies could have to pay for all the services dedicated to treating and ending opioid addiction.
The attorneys who are handling the case aren't charging taxpayers.
They're already representing another 15 cities and counties that are also suing the drug manufacturers.
-
Worth County Board of Supervisors joins group filing opioid lawsuit
Jan 29, 2018 | Globe Gazette (IA)
By Steve Bohnel
The Worth County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday morning to join an opioid lawsuit targeting out-of-state opioid manufacturers.
Merlin Bartz said he and fellow supervisors Ken Abrams and Mark Smeby passed a resolution following the "template" the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) has provided. Several other counties statewide, including Mitchell, have already passed similar resolutions.
The resolution itself states that Worth County will "join with other counties in and outside Iowa in pursuit of claims against certain of the opioid manufacturers."
"Rural communities have not been exempt from this crisis, and we’re gonna have to step up and combat this," Bartz said Monday.
ISAC has recommended that participating counties work with national law firms to file lawsuits against Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmaceuticals and their related companies.
Each of those companies have stated they will fight the allegations in court, if need be, and have been allocating numerous resources to combat the opioid epidemic.
Bartz admitted he was initially skeptical about the issue — but after attending a meeting about the opioid crisis and related lawsuits in Charles City in December, he changed his mind.
"This is not only a national epidemic, this is also a local epidemic," Bartz said. "When we’re dealing with attracting employers, we actually need to be talking about a workforce … a workforce that may be dealing with a drug addiction."
Bartz estimated that it could take a year or two for Worth County to file a lawsuit and to enter into a legal battle. It all depends on how ISAC and the national law firms — including Creuger Dickinson, the one mentioned in Worth County's resolution — want to move forward.
"It's as slow or as fast as justice chooses to move," Bartz said of a timeline.
-
Allen County considering multidistrict litigation over opioid crisis
Jan 29, 2018 | Hometown Stations (OH)
By Eran Hami
A state lawsuit is gaining traction in the western Ohio area.
Counties all over Ohio are involved in a multidistrict litigation to sue manufacturers and distributors of opioid medication. According to Allen County Prosecutor Juergen Waldick about four or five counties around Allen County are involved in the lawsuit and Allen County has begun considering joining as well. Waldick said about one third of Ohio counties are already involved. Counties are seeking reimbursement for the costs incurred and that will be incurred from opioid addiction.
"Absolutely," said Waldick. " I think there's enough evidence there, from what I learned about the nature of the lawsuits, I think Allen County would be a prime candidate for joining the lawsuit."
Waldick said the final decision is not up to him but up to the county commissioners. They will have meetings, on the matter, over the next few weeks.
-
Clallam County to sue drug makers, distributors for damages in opioid crisis
Jan 30, 2018 | Peninsula Daily News
By Paul Gottlieb
Clallam County will join more than 200 other litigants in suing opioid makers and wholesale distributors in federal district court for damages from flooding the market with prescription opioids.
County commissioners, who meet today at 10 a.m. at the county courthouse, will hire Keller Rohrback LLC, a Seattle-based nationwide law firm, on a contingency basis to file the lawsuit on behalf of Clallam County in federal district court in Cleveland, commissioners’ Chairman Mark Ozias said Monday following a board work session at which the litigation was discussed.
Commissioners will be acting on the recommendation of the county Board of Health.
“The pharmaceutical companies knew exactly what they were doing, exactly the harm they were creating and chose to cover it up,” county Health Officer Dr. Christopher Frank said Monday.
The Board of Health last week recommended that the county pursue legal action against manufacturers including Purdue Pharma, drug distributors and “pill mills” where addictive prescription pain-killers are dispensed under loose parameters.
“I’m appreciative of the conversation the Board of Health had,” Ozias said at the work session, noting the “strong recommendation” indicated by the health panel’s unanimous vote.
“It makes sense,” Commissioner Randy Johnson said of the lawsuit.
It will not be part of a class-action lawsuit, but instead a separate filing among more than 200 lawsuits that have already been filed, said David Alvarez, chief civil deputy prosecuting attorney.
Alvarez said Clallam County’s primary cost will be staff time to compile county-specific information on the impact of the opioid crisis on the county for the lawsuit, which he said may be filed by March 31.
Keller Rohrback would receive payment for the lawsuit if Clallam County is awarded damages under a settlement or guilty verdict.
“I don’t think they would have approached Clallam County if they thought there was not a good chance for some compensation for the harm that has been done to Clallam County by the pharmaceutical manufacturers,” Frank said.
Alvarez said Clallam County is an appropriate litigant for the case.
Clallam has an age-adjusted rate of opioid-related overdose deaths higher than any county in Washington from 2012-2016, according to the state Department of Health.
The rate in Clallam is 16.5 opioid-related deaths per 100,000, followed by Mason County with 14.7 deaths per 100,000 and Cowlitz County with 13.6 per 100,000.
Jefferson County, with a rate of 10.3 opioid-related deaths per 100,000, has the 10th highest rate among the state’s 39 counties.
To prepare for the litigation, a department supervisor will be asked fill out a seven-question “Opioid Litigation Department Survey” that asks “how the opioid epidemic (including both prescription opioids and heroin) has affected your department, and what your department has done to deal [with] the opioid and heroin epidemic.”
The questionnaire also asks about costs the department has incurred from dealing with the opioid epidemic.
“This information will allow us to (1) draft a compelling narrative in our complaint about the consequences of the epidemic to Clallam County, and (2) provide an overview in or complaint of the damages Clallam County has suffered as a result of the epidemic.”
The respondents will be urged “to cast a wide net — even if you think a particular issue or area may only be remotely related to the opioid epidemic,” according to the questionnaire.
“We can narrow this down later, if necessary.”
During Jan. 9 proceedings in the case in federal district court in Cleveland, District Court Judge Dan Polster urged lawyers for drug companies and government entities to reach a resolution.
The opioid crisis is claiming the lives of 50,000 citizens every year, about 150 of whom “are going to die today, just today, while we’re meeting,” Polster said.
“And in my humble opinion, everyone shares some of the responsibility, and no one has done enough to abate it.
“That includes the manufacturers, the distributors, the pharmacies, the doctors, the federal government and state government, local governments, hospitals, third-party payors and individuals.
“Just about everyone we’ve got on both sides of the equation in this case.”
Polster’s assertion is “an unfair accusation” and “overly broad,” Alvarez said Tuesday in an interview.
“We are completely strapped for money.
“Washington state is infamous for not providing enough for mental health and substance abuse.”
Frank said there was limited merit to Polster’s argument.
“Everyone probably was slower to react than the situation warranted,” Frank said.
“But I also think it’s clear that the real driver of this epidemic was the greed of the pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers, and it’s particularly difficult for counties in rural parts of the U.S. that really didn’t have the resources or the infrastructure to respond to this epidemic.”
-
Sessions announces new team to fight darknet opioid sales
Jan 29, 2018 | Washington Times
By Jeff Mordock
The Justice Department has formed a new team to fight online opioid sales, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Monday.
Dubbed the Joint Criminal Opiod Darknet Enforcement Team, or J-Code, the task force will focus on opioid sales transacted on the darkweb.
According to Mr. Sessions, J-Code will more than double the FBI’s investment in fighting online opioid trafficking. The FBI will also dedicate dozens more special agents, intelligence analysts and professional staff to the team.
The DEA and the Justice Department’s Safe Streets Task Force and Health Care Fraud Special Agents will also work with J-Code.
“Criminals think that they are safe on the darkness, but they are in a rude awakening,” Mr. Sessions said. “We have already infiltrated their networks and we are determined to bring them to justice. In the midst of the deadliest drug crisis in American history, the FBI and the Department of Justice are stepping up our investment in fighting opioid-related crimes.”
In November, the attorney general ordered all 94 U.S. Attorney offices to designate an opioid coordinator who will customize anti-opioid strategies for their districts.
Mr. Sessions announced J-Code’s formation during a speech in Pittsburgh. In 2016, more than 4,000 Pennsylvanians died of a drug overdose, a 37 percent increase from the previous year, Mr. Sessions said. Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, accounted for 650 deaths two years ago.
“It is looking like 2017 will see another increase, but the preliminary data appears to show that the increase will not be as drastic,” Mr. Sessions said. “But as we all know these are not numbers — these are moms, dads, daughters, spouses, friends and neighbors.”
In July 2017, Mr. Sessions orders the creation of a new program to focus specifically on investigating opioid-related health care fraud, known as the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit.
A month later, the Justice Department announced the seizure of the largest darknet marketplace, known as Alpha Bay. The site hosted nearly 220,000 drug listings and was responsible for synthetic opioid overdoses, including the death of a 13-year-old, Mr. Sessions said.
In August, the department formed an Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit to focus specifically on investigating opioid-related health care fraud.
-
How Many Opioid Pills Do You Need After Surgery?
Jan 29, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Sumathi Reddy
When Mark Greenberg had arthroscopic knee surgery in 2017 he was surprised he got a prescription for 50 pills of the pain reliever Percocet from a fellow doctor. Percocet contains oxycodone, an opioid commonly used to treat pain but has a high risk of addiction.
“I never filled the prescription,” says Dr. Greenberg says, a pain management physician in Ashland, Ore. “I certainly didn’t need any pain medications for a relatively painless surgical procedure.”
The pain specialist says he can see how some patients getting such a procedure might need 10 or 15 pills to get them through the first couple of days. But he found 50 excessive.
The opioid epidemic kills on average 115 Americans a day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 40% of overdose deaths in the U.S. involve a prescription opioid.
Emergency room doctors, dentists and outpatient physicians are curbing prescriptions. And surgeons are rethinking their own prescription practices.
Mark Lockett used to routinely send his patients receiving partial mastectomies home with 30 pills of oxycodone. The South Carolina surgeon changed that approach two months ago and now typically gives such patients 10.
“As a surgeon, I didn’t realize how many of my patients who were never on opioids continued on opioids after surgeries that I had done on them,” says Dr. Lockett, an associate professor of surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. “We heavily overprescribe, not intentionally, but because we don’t want patients to hurt, and what we do hurts.”
Many of Dr. Lockett’s fellow surgeons at his medical school have cut in half or more the amount of opioids given to patients undergoing common procedures such as knee replacements and hysterectomies.
Dr. Lockett’s efforts began after he attended an educational session at the University of Michigan, where experts have formed the Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network (OPEN), a group working to prevent the overprescription of opioids for acute care, or short-term treatment for a severe injury. The group focuses on surgery and dentistry.
The organization unveiled data-driven recommendations on the appropriate number of opioids to prescribe for 14 common procedures, such as gall bladder and colon removals, in October.
“We have so many opioids in our community,” says Chad Brummett, an associate professor of anesthesiology at the University of Michigan and co-director of OPEN. “Drawing back to where that person got the prescription is not easy in many cases. You can assume more than half are for chronic pain conditions. But we think acute care is the most important opportunity for prevention.”
Dr. Brummett says studies have found that between 6% and 13% of patients not using opioids before surgery use them persistently three to six months later. But it’s a continuing area of research, and experts aren’t entirely clear on how many patients who first receive an opioid prescription after surgery become dependent or addicted to them.
In one study, Dr. Brummett and colleagues found that about 6% of patients who received opioids for a minor or major surgical procedure became new persistent users, defined as getting at least one opioid prescription 90 to 180 days after their procedure. They published their study in JAMA Surgery in June.
Those with mood disorders, alcohol and substance abuse disorders and chronic pain disorders showed a higher chance of becoming a persistent user. Smokers also faced a higher risk.
Doctors also worry about what happens with unused opioids. Experts say unused pills can end up in the hands of adolescents, family members or friends or on the black market.
Mark Christopher Bicket, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, published a review article in November in JAMA Surgery looking at six studies to determine how often opioids prescribed for pain go unused.
“We were fairly surprised to see across the board what we would consider very high rates of leftover opioid medications,” Dr. Bicket says. The rates ranged from 42% to 71%.
“These medications are often unsafely stored and not disposed of in recommended ways,” he says. Some hospitals and pharmacies collect them, among other methods.
Richard Barth, a professor of surgery and chief of general surgery at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., and his team came up with guidelines for prescribing opioids for five different procedures. They educated residents, nurses and other physicians on the guidelines. Opioid prescriptions had dropped by 53% four months later. They published their findings in the journal Annals of Surgery in 2017.
Dr. Barth says he know that opioids prescribed to postsurgical patients are just one factor of the opioid epidemic. But it’s one doctors can easily fix.
“I’m just trying to do my part as a physician to responsibly prescribe opioids,” he says. “I think if you do that, then fewer people are going to become longtime opioid users. It’s those people that go back to their family practitioners and keep demanding more opioids.”
Dartmouth doctors are encouraging patients to bring back unused opioids and depositing them in a dropbox installed in the pharmacy this month.
Surgeons have also started emphasizing to patients how using high doses of a combination of ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) and acetaminophen (Tylenol) is just as or more effective in relieving acute pain following surgery, he says.
-
Drug companies flooded West Virginia town of 2,900 with 20.8M pain pills
Jan 30, 2018 | Fox News
By Lukas Mikelionis
A congressional committee investigating the opioid crisis has discovered out-of-state drug companies shipped 20.8 million prescription painkillers over a decade to two pharmacies in a Southern West Virginia town with 2,900 people.
Between 2006 and 2016, two drug wholesalers shipped 10.2 million hydrocodone pills and 10.6 million oxycodone pills to Tug Valley Pharmacy and Hurley Drug in the town of Williamson, in Mingo County, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.
“These numbers are outrageous, and we will get to the bottom of how this destruction was able to be unleashed across West Virginia,” the House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. and ranking member Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J. said in a joint statement.
The panel investigating the opioid epidemic in the U.S. sent out letters to drug wholesalers Miami-Luken and H.D. Smith, questioning why the companies did not see the increased shipments as suspicious all while the deaths from overdose skyrocketed in West Virginia. The letters also asked why the companies complied with the requests for more prescription painkillers.
oth companies have until February 9 to respond to questions and provide relevant documents detailing what measures, if any, they took to end the flood of pain pills into the state.
“We will continue to investigate these distributors’ shipments of large quantities of powerful opioids across West Virginia, including what seems to be a shocking lack of oversight over their distribution practices,” the lawmakers’ statement added.
According to a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland study, the nationwide rate of deaths from opioid overdoses was about 10 per 100,000 people, but West Virginia is leading the way with 35 deaths per 100,000 people. At least 880 people have died in West Virginia in 2016 as a result of overdoses.
Ohio-based Miami-Luken drug wholesaler reportedly sold 6.4 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to Tug Valley Pharmacy between 2008 and 2015, the company told the panel, according to the outlet. In 2008, the company’s shipments to the town tripled compared to the previous year.
Miami-Luken also provided 5.7 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to the Mingo County town of Kermit with 400 people, the report said. In 2008 alone, the company was responsible for over five thousand pain pills for every person in town.
Another regional drug wholesaler, H.D. Smith, was subject to questions of why it distributed 3,000 pain pills a day in 2008 to Family Discount Pharmacy in another West Virginia town, population 1,800. The committee said it was a 10-fold increase compared to 2007, the newspaper reported.
“The committee’s bipartisan investigation continues to identify systemic issues with the inordinate number of opioids distributed to small town pharmacies,” the lawmakers said in the statement. “The volume appears to be far in excess of the number of opioids that a pharmacy in that local area would be expected to receive.”
H.D. Smith said Monday in a statement that it is reviewing the panel’s letter. “H.D. Smith works with its upstream manufacturing and downstream pharmacy partners to guard the integrity of the supply chain, and to improve patient outcomes,” the company said.
Both companies have recently settled with West Virginia over allegations of flooding the state with painkillers. Miami-Luken agreed to pay $2.5 million in 2016 while H.D. Smith paid the state $3.5 million, the Gazette-Mail reported.
-
These are the counties with the state's highest opioid prescription rates
Jan 30, 2018 | Press Connects (USA TODAY)
By Hannah Schwarz
From 2007 to 2016, opioid prescription rates in 26 New York counties increased. In Lewis County, with a population of just around 27,000, rates more than tripled.
In St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, rates more than doubled.
Those numbers are according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the summer of 2017, and used as part of a USA Today Network investigation into opioid prescription rates across the nation.
The data are broken down by state and county, and uses Census population estimates. Data are missing for 7 percent of counties nationwide; in New York, only rates for Hamilton County are missing.
New York's statewide opioid prescription rate in 2016 — 42.7 prescriptions per hundred residents — is significantly lower than the country's rate of 66.5. But there are vast discrepancies between counties, and the statewide number masks an important data point: Upstate New York is seeing much higher prescription rates than "downstate," defined here as all areas served by the Metropolitan Transit Authority: the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau and Suffolk counties (Long Island), and Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Dutchess counties.
Of the nine counties with the lowest prescription rates, eight are from that list of 12. (Yates is the ninth.) The other four are Suffolk, Richmond, Orange and Dutchess. Suffolk, Richmond and Dutchess counties are in the lower half of county prescription rates.
Sixteen New York counties, including Broome, have opioid prescription rates higher than the national average. Chemung tops that list, with a rate of 84.6 prescriptions per 100 people.
Five counties have rates in the 70s, and Broome is nearly there, with a rate of 69.6 prescriptions per 100 people. Here are the 10 counties with the highest prescription rates in 2016:Chemung: 84.6Warren: 82.9Montgomery: 81.5Clinton: 76.9Niagara: 76.2Cattaraugus: 73.4Chatauqua: 72.6Sullivan: 70.2St. Lawrence: 69.9Broome: 69.6
Thirty-five New York counties saw decreases in prescription rates between 2007 and 2016. Broome, for instance, saw a decrease of 14.6 per 100, the 10th-largest.
Yates' prescription rate decreased the most, by about 40 percent. Others, like Suffolk, Chenango, Erie, Richmond and Albany counties, saw decreases in the 19 percent and 20 percent area.
But in other places, rates skyrocketed. Below are the 10 counties where rates of increase were highest:Lewis: 314 percentSt. Lawrence: 259 percentFranklin: 224 percentJefferson: 183 percentClinton: 117 percentSchuyler: 95 percentSeneca: 92 percentCortland: 76 percentEssex: 44 percentOswego: 43 percent
Tompkins County, where Ithaca is located, saw a 26.4 increase per 100 people in opioid prescriptions.
-
Two Men Sentenced for Possession of Enough Fentanyl to Kill Everyone in NYC and New Jersey
Jan 29, 2018 | Independent Journal Review
By William Vaillancourt
The New Jersey Attorney General's Office announced Friday that two men were sentenced to prison in connection with the largest fentanyl seizure in state history.
Police last June arrested Jesus Carrillo-Pineda, 31, of Philadelphia, and Daniel Vasquez, 28, of Somerton, Arizona, as they were transferring drugs between vehicles in a North Bergen, New Jersey, parking lot.
The pair pleaded guilty last month and were sentenced on Friday. Carrillo-Pineda received a 10-year sentence for possession of heroin and fentanyl with intent to distribute. Vasquez was sentenced last Wednesday to six years for fentanyl possession with intent to distribute.
“Many lives were undoubtedly saved as a result of this record-setting fentanyl seizure by the New Jersey State Police,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said, adding:
"The 100 pounds of fentanyl trafficked into our state by these drug dealers could have generated enough lethal doses to kill the entire populations of New Jersey and New York City combined. Because dealers use this super-potent opioid to boost heroin and create counterfeit oxy pills, drug users are left to play a deadly game of Russian roulette each time they give way to their addiction.”
“The 45 kilograms of fentanyl seized last year in this investigation brought home the scope of the problem we face in New Jersey with this highly lethal opioid,” said Elie Honig, director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Three years ago, fentanyl was found in only about 2 percent of the heroin tested by the State Police; by late last year, it was found in nearly one-third of the heroin tested.”
Fentanyl is a widely used and extremely potent synthetic opioid. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 20,000 of the 64,000 overdose deaths in 2016 were because of synthetic opioids.
-
Trump administration unclear on continuation of opioid 'emergency'
Jan 29, 2018 | ABC News
By Kendall Karson
President Donald Trump’s order declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency in October was set to expire last Tuesday — its 90-day mandate must be renewed upon expiration — leading to a lack of clarity in the commitment of the administration's response.
In a statement released Jan. 22, acting Health and Human Services Secretary Eric Hargan renewed the “determination that a public health emergency exists nationwide … as a result of the continued consequences of the opioid crisis affecting our nation.”
When asked if the public health emergency will be renewed every 90 days, HHS did not provide an answer, casting doubt on exactly how long the mandate is expected to last.
The administration’s response to the opioid crisis was also recently overshadowed by the revelation that 24-year-old Taylor Weyeneth serves as deputy chief of staff at the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) —- the office charged with leading the administration’s crusade across agencies to confront this crisis. Weyeneth’s only professional experience after graduating college was as a former staffer on Trump’s presidential campaign, The Washington Post reported.
Following this report, the White House told ABC News that Weyeneth is planning to leave his post at the end of the month.
“Mr. Weyeneth has decided to depart ONDCP at the end of the month,” said White House spokesperson Raj Shah. It was unclear whether Weyeneth would continue to serve the administration in a different capacity and neither he nor the White House responded to a request for comment about his future employment.
Publicly, Trump and his administration tout an unwavering pledge to curbing the rampant epidemic.
When he made the public health emergency declaration in October, Trump said he would mobilize “every appropriate emergency authority to fight the opioid crisis” — and even went as far to call the opioid epidemic “the worst drug crisis in American history.”
“This crisis remains a top priority for President Trump and his administration,” a spokesperson at ONDCP told ABC News.
While the White House insists the opioid crisis is a top priority, lingering questions remain about the urgency of the administration’s response behind the scenes.
According to a spokesperson at the ONDCP, “The Office of National Drug Control Policy works closely with other federal agencies and White House offices, including Kellyanne Conway’s office, to combat the opioid crisis our nation is currently facing.”
Weyeneth is not the only staffing choice that has cast scrutiny on the agency.
Shortly before Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, his nominee to lead the ONDCP, Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., withdrew his name from consideration after it was revealed that he along with multiple other lawmakers passed a bill to significantly weaken the Drug Enforcement Agency’s enforcement capabilities in the opioid crisis in favor of lobbying by pharmaceutical companies.
Since March, Richard Baum has served as the agency’s acting director, or acting “drug czar,” charged with coordinating the federal response to the crisis. A permanent appointment has not been nominated to serve as director.
ABC News could not be provided with an estimate of the number of staff or vacancies at ONDCP after multiple inquiries to the White House, ONDCP and the Office of Personnel Management.
But staffing isn’t the only lingering question. From its inception, there have been mixed messages about funding for Trump’s opioid order.
At the time of the October announcement, two senior House and Senate Appropriations officials told ABC News the White House had not yet requested additional funding to combat the epidemic.
“President Trump has prioritized this issue by declaring the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency and directing the entire Administration to focus combating this ‘crisis next door’ that affects so many American families across the country,” a White House spokesperson told ABC News.
Adding, “We will continue discussions with Congress on the appropriate level of funding needed to address this crisis.”
A leaked memo, reported by CBS News in May 2017, from the Office of Management and Budget’s proposed FY18 budget outlined a plan to redirect ONDCP’s two central grant programs, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas grant and the Drug Free Communities Act, to the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services. This plan would effectively slash ONDCP’s budget by 95 percent. Politico reported last week that the administration is attempting again to include this same proposal in the FY19 budget.
An OMB spokesperson said it would not comment on leaked or pre-decisional documents before the budget is released, but OMB press secretary Meghan Burris added, “DOJ and HHS are both major grant management organizations that can look holistically at allocations across law enforcement and drug prevention and treatment resources.”
With concerns over staffing and funding for the administration’s core agency responsible for combatting this crisis, the federal response shows few tangible signs of progress.
But an ONDCP spokesperson said, “The Trump administration will continue to focus its resources to prevent new addictions from developing, and help those already suffering to recover from addiction.”
-
DRUG LAWSUITS FILED BY LOCAL COUNTIES TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER COURT
Jan 29, 2018 | WTVA (OH)
By Staff
Lawsuits filed by three North Mississippi counties against drug companies over the opioid epidemic has been transferred to a federal court in Ohio.
Benton, Union and Tippah counties filed lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors of the drugs in early January.
In the lawsuit, the counties claimed the companies misrepresented the dangers of taking the medications.
They also contend the companies targeted certain patients and then tried to cover up their actions.
The counties are suing to recover public money spent in relation to the opioid epidemic.
The cases are being consolidated with nearly 160 others filed nationwide by local governments.
-
Jan 30, 2018 | KCNC (CBS)
By Denver, CO
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336801?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932
Rough Transcript: southern colorado is the first in the state to take on major pharmaceutical companies and the company filed suit on behalf of its 6400 residents claiming drug companies are responsible for the impact of opioid addiction there. the lawsuit accuses companies like pa due and mckesson of a distribution scheme that led to the lawsuit. the suit is for -- there are 41 state attorney general's suing the opioid industry.
-
Jan 30, 2018 | KWGN (CW)
By Denver, CO
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336807?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932
Rough Transcript: this is very interesting to colorado county now going after pharmaceutical companies it says are behind the opioid eben debt epidemic in their community where for no county filing a class action lawsuit this weekend south. of pueblo in the city of walsenburg the lawsuit alleges the drug companies use a sophisticated marketing and distribution scheme to deceptively pursuit persuade doctors and patients to use oilfield opioids to treat chronic pain county officials say that has led to an increase in addiction. the lawsuit also claims the opioid epidemic has cost them tax dollars to deal with homelessness crime and other nuisance issues related to the drugs. a spokesman however for the many of the distributors and lawsuit told us that blaming the suppliers quote defies common sense. he says the county should address the root cause rather than. trying to direct blame through litigation
-
Jan 30, 2018 | KDVR (Fox)
By Denver, CO
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336783?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932
Rough Transcript: tonight a colorado company is suing pharmaceutical companies over 11:05 PMopioid issues because of an ongoing cris. in their very own community. now we're talking about were no county that's in southern colorado are actually michael's is learning more about the losses and what it means for the ongoing cris across america ashley eric i read every page of this lawsuit today. here's the just county officials are accusing pharmaceutical accusing pharmaceutical companies of false advertising. and they say that has led to a health crisis not only in southern colorado but across the country it's barely a dot on the map walsenburg colorado in where for no county population 6400 but this little southern colorado town big problem. according to state data where fino county leads colorado in the number of our visits and hospitalizations for opioid overdose and now the county says it blames pharmaceutical companies like johnson and johnson perdue and mckesson in a new lawsuit where finished county alleges they used a sophisticated marketing and distribution 11:06 PMscheme. premised on deception to persuade doctors and patients that opioids can and should be used to treat chronic pain. in other words the county thinks the companies lied about how safe the drugs were in order to sell them now though the suit says the explosion and opioid prescriptions has led to a health crisis in colorado. where we face skyrocketing opioid deaths and overdoses and but it has created a population of patients physically and psychologically dependent on them problem the county says he's also fueling a crime wave and an uptick in homelessness but in a statement to fox 31? a group of the defendants say this given our role? the idea that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written? phys common sense and lacks understanding how the supply chain actually works. those bringing the lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes rather than trying to direct blame through litigation. so what do they want out of a lawsuit. they're asking for what they call advertising to stop. and the county wants two point two million dollars for tax money it says it's been fixing the opioidcris
-
Jan 30, 2018 | KKTV (CBS)
By Colorado Springs, CO
Video Link:http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336820?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932
Rough Transcript: huerfano county filed a lawsuit on behalf on its 64-hundred residents. it claims 12 drug companies are largely responsible for the opioid cris affecting their community. the county says the companies use deceptive marketing and distribution schemes. the county says they've suffered economic damages of at least 750 thousand dollars.
-
Jan 30, 2018 | WJZY (Fox)
By Charlotte, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336827?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932
Rough Transcript: gaston county leaders part of a lawsuit against distributors of opioids. they claim the companies overstated the benefits of the drugs and the manufacturers failed to disclose the risks associated with taking opioids. officials say the time to act is now quite there is a five alarm fire burning and we all have a role in putting it out. let me tell you gaston county is pleased to announce that they have fully accepted their role in putting out this fire. >> page: last year more than 50 deaths associated with opioids in gaston county alone. governor cooper announcing his plan to attack the opioid cris. he hopes to reduce the oversupply of drugs, increase community awareness and expand treatment for opioid abuse.
-
Jan 30, 2018 | WCCB (CW)
By Charlotte, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336832?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932
Rough Transcript: gaston county working to fight the opioid epidemic with a major lawsuit against prescription opioid manufacturers and distributors. the county is part of the nationwide litigation against those manufacturers. six different law firm are helping in the case. the gaston county sheriff says the crisis comes at a great expense to law enforcement agencies across the state. >> very worried for the public, very worried for their families, very worried for the first responders. not only the deputies, but any of the firemen, the rescue folks, law enforcement. >> six other lawsuits have been filed in north carolina against those manufacturers and distributors. >> derek: wccb charlotte dug into the cost of the opioid epidemic in gaston county last year. every first responder is equipped with narcan, the drug that saves people from opioid overdose. administering narcan costs $47 a dose. opioids can be deadly, in even small amounts. narcan not only needed for overdose patients, but also for first responders, and rescue crews who encounter them, including k-9 units.
-
Spectrum News Your Morning News at 9
Jan 30, 2018 | NWS14 (Spectrum News)
By Charlotte, NC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#/report/4ec31976-558b-49d3-953a-ad55c83f5b45
Rough Transcript: attorney general jeff sessions is using a new resource to fight drug trafficking on the internet. it's called j-code it's called j-code -- or joint criminal opioid dark net enforcement team... which is a collaboration between the d- e-a, the f-b-i, health care fraud special agents, and others... sessions said yesterday j-code will target and disrupt the global online drug trade. jeff sessions, us attorney general"it will help us mak more arests of those who are selling these deadly substances online, as well as shut down the marketplaces that these drug dealers use, and ultimately help us reduce addiction, 9:08 AMoverdoses, and death in this and death in this community and across the country." sessions made the announcement in pittsburgh -- one of many cities struggling with the opioid cris. gaston county has joined 15 other cities and counties in north carolina in a lawsuit against drug manufacturers over the opioid epidemic. they're also suing wholesale distributors for failing to report suspicious orders of prescription drugs. drugs. pastor steven black hopes the suit will make a difference... but wants to see more resources for counseling in the meantime... "people to talk to, peopl to get connected with to get the right people in connected with to get the right people in your life and around you to hold you accountable because abusing the drugs neds to be held accountable as well." attorneys say... if they win a if they win a case... the money from damages would cover their charlotte mecklenburg police are seeing more cars stolen with the keys left in the ignition.
-
Jan 29, 2018 | WKRN (ABC)
By Nashville, TN
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32336956?token=89417f22-819d-4750-a368-bb3d5729a932
Rough Transcript: as tennessee continues to battle a state- wide opioid cris... yet another local city is exploring a lawsuit against opiate manufacturers and distributors. news twos jessica jaglois is live in studio to tell us why... jess: la vergne is the newest municipality in middle tennessee to consider filing a lawsuits against a variety of opioid makers and distributors. la vergne may sue to recover some of the money taxpayers have spent on fighting the opioid cris. dennis waldron/la vergne mayor: 10p opioid lawsuit tnnasof1enc001.mpg 19:37:49;07 the resolution 201802 passes jessica jaglois/ reporting: in a special session, la vergne's board of alderman voted to hire a law firm to investigate if the city can recover taxpayer money spent on fighting the opioidcrisis. dennis waldron/la vergne mayor: jes 10p opioid lawsuit tnnasof1enc01.mpg 19:39:28;22 when you're sending taxpayer's money, you gotta do it 11:06 PMwisely and anytime we can recover any money i think the city needs to make an effort to do it. jesica: from the police and emts who respond to overdoses, to the narcan administered, to, at times, the jail time that's served. dennis waldron/la vergne mayor: jess 10p opioid lawsuittnnasof1enc001.mpg 19:43:55;12 it's kind of a trickle down effect. it effects the whole community. just because your neighbor overdosed and goes to the hospital, it doesn't just affect their family it affects the whole community. jessica: attorney mark chalos is representing rutherford, smith and cannon counties, nashville and now la vergne. each are either considering or have filed lawsuits on behalf of their taxpayers. mark chalos/lieff cabraser heimann & bernstein attorney: 2:09 the taxpayers have paid their fair share over years to the tune of millions of dollars. it's about time the manufacturers and distributors who have done wrong pay for the harm they've caused. jessica: chalos says drug makers and distributors have caused harm to communities and families across middle tennessee...as well as cost them money. mark chalos/lieff cabraser heimann & bernstein attorney: 0:30 we're learning more and more every day about the bad conduct of drug manufacturers and distributors and were realizing the impact on the taxpayers > jess: the law firm will now look into la vergne's records to estimate how much money it has spent on opioid- related crimes, overdoses and deaths. la vergne will then decide if they want to file a lawsuit to recover that money.
Huerfano County, CO Suit
Southeast (NC)
Midwest (IA, OH)
Northwest (WA)
Commentary and FYIs
Broadcast Media Coverage
Add recipients
Suggested