Preview Newsletter
Opioid Litigation Daily Media Report - 2/15/18
-
McCaskill investigation: Industry advocacy groups tied to opioid makers
| West Plains Daily Quill (MO)
By Abby Hess
An investigation into the opioid manufacturing industry launched by Sen. Claire McCaskill in March 2017 has led her to conclude opioid makers have funded efforts to minimize the knowledge about risks of opioid addiction and promote the drugs’ use, possibly setting the stage for an epidemic. -
McCaskill Report Questions $9 Million Drug Maker/Pain Management Group Relationships
Feb 14, 2018 | Missourinet (MO)
By Alisa Nelson
A report released by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, says the top five opioid manufacturers gave nearly $9 million in five years to 14 pain management groups. She says the organizations have often “amplified messages favorable to increased opioid use”. McCaskill says several of the groups profiled received most of their outside contributions and grants for certain years between 2012 and 2017 from opioid makers – creating a bias or an appearance of a bias. -
Drug Makers Floods Patient Groups With Cash To Push Opioid Painkillers
Feb 14, 2018 | The Daily Caller
By Steve Birr
A senate report investigating the causes of the national opioid epidemic shows patient advocacy groups have received millions from opioid drug makers since 2012. -
12 more companies added to drug suit
Feb 15, 2018 | Associated Press
By Staff
The number of lawsuits continues to grow in a combined federal challenge of drug companies' role in the opioid crisis. -
30 experts were asked how they’d fight the opioid crisis. None mentioned a border wall.
Feb 15, 2018 | Vox
By German Lopez
If you ask President Donald Trump how he’ll end the opioid crisis, his planned wall at the US-Mexico border is almost certain to come up. With his 2019 budget plan released this week, the Trump administration once again cited the wall as a key component: “[T]he Administration is seeking the total $18 billion request for the border wall. Building the wall is critical to impeding and denying the flow of illicit drugs into our country.” -
Opioid fight will be long, but Utah Legislature is on right track (EDITORIAL)
Feb 15, 2018 | Park Record (UT)
By Staff
One of the most important topics the Utah State Legislature is tackling in its 2018 session is literally a matter of life and death. -
Dayton wants Big Pharma to fund Minnesota's anti-opioid battle
Feb 14, 2018 | Minnesota Public Radio
By Jon Collins
Gov. Mark Dayton on Wednesday laid out a broad plan to tackle Minnesota's opioid crisis, including a significant increase in funding for prevention and treatment, and a penny-a-pill fee paid by drug companies to cover costs. -
Purdue Pharma To Stop Marketing OxyContin To Doctors
Feb 14, 2018 | The Fix
By Paul Gaita
Facing lawsuits for its alleged role in the opioid epidemic, drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma announced on February 12 that it will no longer market its opioid pain medication, OxyContin, to doctors' offices. -
Beat you to it, Purdue. Other opioid makers already ditched promotions
Feb 15, 2018 | FiercePharma
By Beth Snyder Bulik
While the news that Purdue Pharma plans to stop marketing opioids made a media splash this week, other opioid makers probably wondered why it was a big deal—because they had already quit. -
Benton County Joins Opioid Lawsuit
Feb 14, 2018 | KFSM (AR)
By Kathryn Gilker
Benton County has joined 70 other counties in the state in the lawsuit against opioid manufactures and distributors. -
Barling joins opioid lawsuit
Feb 14, 2018 | Southwest Times Record (AR)
By Thomas Saccente
Barling has joined other Arkansas cities in a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors. -
Albertville joins opioid lawsuit
Feb 14, 2018 | Sand Mountain Reporter (AL)
By Huck Treadwell
The Albertville City Council voted to join a growing lawsuit being filed against opioid manufacturers and distributors. -
County joins opioid suit
Feb 14, 2018 | The Andalusia Star-News (AL)
By Christopher Smith
The County Commission agreed to join national class act litigation against several opioid pharmaceutical manufacturers. -
County Commission swiftly moves through its agenda
Feb 14, 2018 | The Polk County Standard (GA)
By Kevin Myrick
The County Commission spent several hours hearing citizens and going through committee reports, but kept their regular session much briefer with only a small amount of items needing a vote. -
Pittsfield to join opioid lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies
Feb 15, 2018 | The Berkshire Eagle (MA)
By Amanda Drane
Pittsfield is joining a growing list of cities suing pharmaceutical companies to cover costs spiraling from the opioid epidemic. -
PCTV Channels Moving, Pittsfield Joins Lawsuit Over Opioids
Feb 15, 2018 | iBerkshires (MA)
By Andy McKeever
PCTV is not happy with Spectrum moving the local access channels. -
Legislators join opioid lawsuit, approve JCC center proposal
Feb 15, 2018 | Journal & Republican (NY)
By Steve Virkler
Lewis County legislators last week reversed a prior decision by joining a class-action lawsuit against the major manufacturers of opioid drugs and agreed to a Jefferson Community College educational center proposal with more affordable lease payments than last year’s plan. -
Cumberland County suing opioid manufacturers, distributors
Feb 14, 2018 | Central Penn Business Journal (PA)
By Shelby White
Cumberland County is the latest to join a number of governments suing opioid manufacturers and distributors for allegedly misleading the public and medical community about the dangers of using opioids. -
Sarpy County Board votes to join federal opioid lawsuit
Feb 15, 2018 | Omaha World-Herald (NE)
By Andrew J. Nelson
The Sarpy County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to join Douglas County and dozens of other local governments across the U.S. suing drug companies over the opioid epidemic. -
Effingham County closer to opioid lawsuit
Feb 14, 2018 | Effingham Daily News (IL)
By Graham Milldrum
The Effingham County Board will consider an ordinance declaring the opioid epidemic a "public nuisance," creating part of the foundation for an external law firm to sue the distributors of opioids. -
Standing Rock Sioux file lawsuit against 24 opioid makers, distributors
Feb 15, 2018 | Becker's Hospital Review
By Brian Zimmerman
Attorneys on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against 24 drugmakers and drug distributors for the companies' alleged roles in facilitating the opioid epidemic within the tribe's reservation, according to a report from the StarTribune. -
Knox County joins fight against opioid distributors and manufacturers
Feb 14, 2018 | The Cleveland American (OK)
By Staff
The Knox County Board of Commissioners announced Tuesday that Knox County, Ohio, is taking a much-needed step to hold accountable the companies responsible for dumping millions of dollars’ worth of prescription opiates into its community. The Board of Commissioners passed a resolution to declare a public nuisance against the opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors and to request the Knox County Common Pleas Court’s approval for the county to retain a legal team to represent the county in potential litigation against the pharmaceutical companies. -
County sues drugmakers for opiod 'crisis'
Feb 14, 2018 | The Dispatch (WA)
By Pat Jenkins
Pierce County sued manufacturers of prescription opioids last Thursday, the day before politicians with various county constituencies joined professionals from the fields of healthcare, education and substance abuse at an invitation-only summit meeting on the issue of opiod abuse. -
ABC 10 News This Morning
Feb 15, 2018 | WBUP (ABC)
By Marquette, MI
Video Link: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32719126?token=2515dafb-d2c9-4aab-8d2f-645187f44c26 -
Politics and Public Policy Today
Feb 15, 2018 | CSPAN
By National Programming
Video Link: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32724942?token=2515dafb-d2c9-4aab-8d2f-645187f44c26 -
Public Affairs Events
Feb 15, 2018 | CSPAN
By National Programming
Video Link: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32726800?token=2515dafb-d2c9-4aab-8d2f-645187f44c26 -
Local 6 at Six
Feb 14, 2018 | WPSD (NBC)
By Paducah, KY
Video Link: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32726802?token=2515dafb-d2c9-4aab-8d2f-645187f44c26 -
5 Eyewitness News Live at 5
Feb 14, 2018 | KSTP (ABC)
By Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Video Link: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32726804?token=2515dafb-d2c9-4aab-8d2f-645187f44c26
McCaskill Report
MDL
Commentary and FYIs
Southeast (AR, AL, GA)
Northeast (MA, NY, PA)
Midwest (NE, IL, ND)
Southwest (OK)
Northwest (WA)
Broadcast Media Coverage
-
McCaskill investigation: Industry advocacy groups tied to opioid makers
| West Plains Daily Quill (MO)
By Abby Hess
An investigation into the opioid manufacturing industry launched by Sen. Claire McCaskill in March 2017 has led her to conclude opioid makers have funded efforts to minimize the knowledge about risks of opioid addiction and promote the drugs’ use, possibly setting the stage for an epidemic.
In 2016, in Missouri, about 60 percent of 1,300 drug overdose deaths involved opioids, and opioids cost the state $12.6 billion, according to the Missouri Hospital Association. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed in July 2017, Howell County ranked highest in the state in prescription opioid saturation and 30th in the nation.
McCaskill, top-ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced this week the release of an eye-opening report, “Fueling an Epidemic: Exposing the Financial Ties Between Opioid Manufacturers and Third Party Advocacy Groups.” The report is the second product of the investigation, and the first Congressional report on the subject.
“The pharmaceutical industry spent a generation downplaying the risks of opioid addiction and trying to expand their customer base for these incredibly dangerous medications and this report makes clear they made investments in third-party organizations that could further those goals,” McCaskill said. “These financial relationships were insidious, lacked transparency, and are one of many factors that have resulted in arguably the most deadly drug epidemic in American history.”
The 25-page document describes significant financial investments by the top five opioid makers into third party groups engaged in pro-opioid advocacy over a long period of time, including minimizing the risks of opioid addiction and the endorsement of opioids for long-term treatment of chronic pain.
‘HIDDEN FROM PUBLIC VIEW’
Describing the report, McCaskill explained the investigation concerns sales and marketing practices of the opioid manufacturers and distributors with regard to addiction. The distribution side of the equation is still under investigation, she said, and a detailed report concerning those companies is forthcoming.
The latest release focuses on payments made to third-party advocacy groups by the five largest opioid manufacturing companies: Purdue Pharma, Mylan, Depomed, Insys Therapeutics and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
“It is basically an attempt to look at something that is hidden from public view,” said McCaskill during a press conference call. “At a minimum, it is something that should be disclosed to the public.”
She said some of the companies may be doing worthwhile work, which is all the more reason why the information should be public record.
The report notes many of the groups have some form of IRS tax-exemption status allowing them to choose how much information to divulge regarding donors, if any at all; not one of the organizations receiving funds from the five major manufacturers has any kind of online list linking to donors, their specific donations and the projects benefiting from those funds. Some outright state they do not disclose such information to the public at all.
As a result, it’s difficult for doctors, patients or health care industry professionals to make informed decisions about the information they’re provided with regard to opioid medication, or the motivation behind any recommendations, said McCaskill.
As a result of the committee’s latest discovery, McCaskill said she is working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to draft a bill, in progress now, tailored to address the lack of public disclosure regarding funding.
KEY FINDINGS
“Organizations receiving substantial funding from manufacturers have, in fact, amplified and reinforced messages favoring increased opioid use,” reads the report’s conclusion. “By aligning medical culture with industry goals in this way, many of the groups described above may have played a significant role in creating the necessary conditions for the U.S. opioids epidemic.”
Key findings from the investigative report show the five leading opioid manufacturers contributed nearly $9 million to 14 third-party advocacy organizations over five years, and additional payments of $1.6 million to group-affiliated doctors between 2013 and the present, bringing total contributions to more than $10 million.
According to the report, several of the groups received the majority of their outside contributions and grants for certain years within the specified time frame from opioid manufacturers.
Purdue Pharma, which makes five opioid analgesic medications, made the largest combined payout and the most diverse, giving more than $4 million total to 12 groups over five years, according to the report. The company reportedly gave more than $1 million to the Academy of Integrative Pain Management, formerly the American Academy of Pain Management, which ranked second in payments received overall, including those made to individuals affiliated with the company.
In a statement made Friday, a few days prior to the release of McCaskill’s report, Purdue Pharma announced it would be changing its approach.
“We have restructured and significantly reduced our commercial operation and our sales representatives will no longer promote opioids to prescribers,” said company officials, adding the corporation will now direct inquires about opioid products to health care professionals in its Medical Affairs department.
SPENDING PATTERNS
A change in Purdue’s reported spending habits appeared to take place in 2016. Prior to that year, estimated annual payments ranged from $812,000 to $973,000; in 2016, those payments dropped to about $558,000, and then in 2017, declined even more sharply to $50,000.
However, at about the same time Purdue was paying out less, Insys Therapeutics, the maker of Subsys, a highly addictive oral fentanyl spray, was paying out more, the report shows. That company went from paying out $14,000 to advocacy groups in 2012 to $2.5 million in 2017.
Insys is the same company that, last fall, came under legal fire when McCaskill released audio of a sales representative for the company allegedly portrayed herself as a doctor’s employee to promote the drug’s use, even for off-label purposes, ultimately resulting in a patient’s death.
According to the manufacturer’s website, Subsys is intended only for cancer patients who are already on round-the-clock opioid pain management.
A month following the audio release, Insys Therapeutics former CEO John Kapoor was arrested on multiple federal charges.
Since then, the Associated Press (AP) has reported a doctor in Rhode Island has come under legal fire for aggressive promotion of the drug. Citing grand jury testimony filed by prosecutors, AP reports the doctor is accused of jeopardizing patients’ health and causing one to lose 40 pounds and repeatedly vomit for years. Court documents show two patients required treatment with Narcan, an opioid overdose antidote, for “opioid intoxication.”
The case is one of several across the country brought against people associated with Insys Therapeutics and Subsys prescriptions.
FUNDS SUPPORTED PRO-OPIOID EFFORTS
The investigative team noted the groups under scrutiny in the report often pushed initiatives to echo and amply messages favorable to increased opioid use – and the financial interests of opioid makers.
According to the report, those advocacy groups issued guidelines to health practitioners that minimize the risk of opioid addiction or encourage long-term usage of opioids for chronic pain. A complaint from the city of Chicago cited in the report charged that two large advocacy groups said in 1997 the risk of patients becoming addicted to the medication was low.
One of those two organizations, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, is attributed by McCaskill’s office as saying in a 2009 patient guide that “opioids are rarely addictive when used properly for the management of chronic pain.”
That group received almost $1.2 million in contributions from four of the five manufacturers. Outlier company Mylan, manufacturer of several generic opioid medications, submitted a statement to investigators that it has a “very limited role” in the opioid-containing marketplace.” That particular company only made $20,250 in payments to one group, the American Pain Society.
“The report lays it out in black and white that this is not a problem that Mylan has,” said McCaskill.
The report also finds some advocacy groups have lobbied extensively to stop legislation restricting opioid prescribing or promote laws encouraging treatment, citing action from two such groups to protect a 2001 Tennessee law making it difficult to discipline doctors for overprescribing.
For her part, McCaskill has said in the past she believes legislating prescription practices, as a solution to the crisis, is less effective than would be top-down improvements in industry-led standards issued by such entities as the American Medical Association. She still believes that to be the case, she said, and hopes the investigation can inform those standards.
“I think that it’s important that we shine a bright light on this sector,” said McCaskill. “There is a blurring of the lines for doctors that makes getting this information difficult.”
Advocacy groups are also called into question by investigators for efforts to criticize or undermine CDC guidelines regarding opioid prescribing practices and limit accountability for medical providers prescribing opioids.
Despite its thorough look at industry practices, the report does not capture the full extent of the financial links between manufacturers and third parties, investigators note, as many of these relationships existed prior to 2012, and that data was not included.
-
McCaskill Report Questions $9 Million Drug Maker/Pain Management Group Relationships
Feb 14, 2018 | Missourinet (MO)
By Alisa Nelson
A report released by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, says the top five opioid manufacturers gave nearly $9 million in five years to 14 pain management groups. She says the organizations have often “amplified messages favorable to increased opioid use”. McCaskill says several of the groups profiled received most of their outside contributions and grants for certain years between 2012 and 2017 from opioid makers – creating a bias or an appearance of a bias.
According to McCaskill, the under-investigated dimension of the connections between the pharmaceutical industry, the medical community, government, and the public ultimately has generated a national public health crisis.
“The pharmaceutical industry spent a generation downplaying the risks of opioid addiction and trying to expand their customer base for these incredibly dangerous medications and this report makes clear they made investments in third-party organizations that could further those goals,” she says. “These financial relationships were insidious, lacked transparency, and are one of many factors that have resulted in arguably the most deadly drug epidemic in American history.”
Her findings include groups like the American Academy of Pain Medicine, U.S. Pain Foundation, Washington Legal Foundation, and Academy of Integrative Pain Management.
“These organizations have names that make one think that they are honest brokers in this space, that they are merely advocating good public policy, and good public health,” she says.
McCaskill says many of the groups have also lobbied against policy changes meant to reduce addiction. She says the Washington Legal Foundation criticized 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) prescribing guidelines that recommended limits on opioid prescriptions for chronic pain as procedurally flawed and tainted by bias. According to McCaskill, the Washington Legal Foundation received $500,000 from Purdue Pharma between 2012 and 2016. She says most of the groups profiled in her report strongly criticized these guidelines.
According to news reports, several of the organizations say the donations did not influence their work and make them bias.
Manufacturers targeted in her report were Purdue Pharma, Mylan, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Depomed, and Insys. It also says additional payments of $1.6 million from the drug makers were made to physicians affiliated with these groups between 2013 and the present.
Due to their classification under the U.S. tax code, she says the advocacy groups have no obligation to disclose their donors publicly – creating a “troubling lack of transparency”. McCaskill is drafting legislation that would require these organizations to release their funding details.
-
Drug Makers Floods Patient Groups With Cash To Push Opioid Painkillers
Feb 14, 2018 | The Daily Caller
By Steve Birr
A senate report investigating the causes of the national opioid epidemic shows patient advocacy groups have received millions from opioid drug makers since 2012.
Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri released the report Monday, which reveals five of the largest opioid manufacturers in the country worked closely with patient groups to promote opioid painkillers for people suffering from chronic pain. Between 2012 and 2017 these patient groups, including the U.S. Pain Foundation and the Academy of Integrative Pain Management, received more than $10 million from the pharmaceutical industry, reports NPR.
McCaskill suggests the relationship between drug makers and these groups significantly contributed to a culture of overprescribing in the medical community. The report states, “These financial relationships – and the lack of transparency surrounding them – have raised concerns regarding the information and initiatives patient advocacy organizations promote.”
“The pharmaceutical industry spent a generation downplaying the risks of opioid addiction and trying to expand their customer base for these incredibly dangerous medications, and this report makes clear they made investments in third-party organizations that could further those goals,” McCaskill said in a statement, according to NPR. “These financial relationships were insidious, lacked transparency and are one of many factors that have resulted in arguably the most deadly drug epidemic in American history.”
Many of the patient groups in questions have since reformed their practices and are adamant that funding from drug makers, including Purdue Pharma and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, never influenced their advice to patients regarding the risks of opioid painkillers. A representative for the Academy of Integrative Pain Management told NPR that as a response to the opioid crisis they have turned their focus to alternative pain treatments like physical therapy and acupuncture.
Officials with the U.S. Pain Foundation say funding from pharmaceutical companies is used for ensuring smooth access to painkillers for patients with cancer.
“It looks pretty damning when these groups were pushing the message about how wonderful opioids are and they were being heavily funded, in the millions of dollars, by the manufacturers of those drugs,” Lewis Nelson, a Rutgers University doctor, told The Center for Public Integrity.
Purdue Pharma was the largest contributor to patient advocacy groups, contributing $4.7 million since 2012.
Purdue Pharma revealed in an announcement Friday that it had cut more than half of their sales force, alerting staff to the changes in a letter last week. The move reduces the sales staff to 200 employees and effectively ends the long-held marketing practice of promoting painkillers to health care professionals.
Purdue Pharma’s medical affairs team will now field any questions regarding pain medications from doctors. Purdue Pharma is the first major opioid drug maker to end the practice of marketing painkillers to medical professionals.
The unexpected shift in policy from Purdue Pharma is likely a concession to the demands of dozens of states and localities suing the drug maker, along with other manufacturers of opioid painkillers, for igniting the addiction crisis through deceptive marketing practices that downplayed the risks of their drugs.
Purdue Pharma denies allegations of complicity in the opioid epidemic and says it is committed to curbing rates of opioid abuse.
Addiction experts are welcoming the decision, but note it is only a small step towards reducing overall opioid abuse and addiction. Much of the current damage being done by the opioid epidemic is due to street drugs like heroin and fentanyl, which users have turned to in the absence of the prescription painkillers that first made them dependent on opioids.
Fentanyl overtook heroin as the deadliest substance in the U.S. in 2016, claiming 19,413 lives in 2017, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
-
12 more companies added to drug suit
Feb 15, 2018 | Associated Press
By Staff
The number of lawsuits continues to grow in a combined federal challenge of drug companies' role in the opioid crisis.
Judge Dan Polster is overseeing the consolidated lawsuits in a case in federal court in Cleveland.
The complaints allege drug manufacturers and drug distributors bear responsibility for the deadly overdose epidemic and for not doing enough to stop it.
Polster is trying to hammer out a settlement between the industry and communities that have filed complaints.
Polster allowed 12 more lawsuits into the case on Tuesday, bringing the total to more than 320.
The new cases include lawsuits brought by the city of Lebanon, Ohio; Marion County, Alabama; Candler County, Georgia; Onondaga County, New York; and Skagit County in Washington state.
-
30 experts were asked how they’d fight the opioid crisis. None mentioned a border wall.
Feb 15, 2018 | Vox
By German Lopez
If you ask President Donald Trump how he’ll end the opioid crisis, his planned wall at the US-Mexico border is almost certain to come up. With his 2019 budget plan released this week, the Trump administration once again cited the wall as a key component: “[T]he Administration is seeking the total $18 billion request for the border wall. Building the wall is critical to impeding and denying the flow of illicit drugs into our country.”
If you ask experts, the wall is totally irrelevant. Josh Katz with the New York Times asked 30 experts how they would spend $100 billion over five years on the opioid crisis, which is a little less than the US spends domestically on HIV/AIDS. None of the experts — not the police officials, not the politicians, not the public health experts — pointed to the wall, Katz reported: “One point of agreement: No panelist spent any of the hypothetical $100 billion on a border wall with Mexico.”
This matches my own reporting. When I asked experts last year how they’d solve the opioid crisis, no one brought up the border wall. (Well, maybe some did in mockery.)
Instead, experts put the solutions to the drug overdose crisis in four main categories: treatment (particularly highly effective medications for opioid addiction), demand (such as community development to address the “root causes” of addiction), harm reduction (including naloxone and safe injection sites), and supply (meaning, in large part, efforts to reduce opioid painkiller overprescription).
Katz, for his piece, broke down exactly how the experts he talked to would on average spend $100 billion over five years in these four areas: 47 percent would go to treatment, 27 percent to demand, 15 percent to harm reduction, and 11 percent to supply.
This is only an average. Some experts emphasize certain areas more than others, but they generally agree that there’s no one silver bullet to the crisis and that all of these areas will require some level of investment.
Well, all of these areas except the border wall, anyway.Experts emphasize the opposite of what Trump does
In his public comments, Trump has repeatedly suggested that the right way to combat the opioid crisis is a law enforcement effort. In a speech in Cincinnati last week, Trump said, “People form blue ribbon committees. They do everything they can. And frankly, I have a different take on it. My take is you have to get really, really tough, really mean with the drug pushers and the drug dealers.”
Trump has also, of course, tweeted about his wall as a big solution to the opioid crisis:
It’s not that experts wouldn’t spend any money on law enforcement to address the opioid epidemic, but it’s simply not a very high priority. There’s a simple reason for that: The empirical evidence does not back up the “tough on crime” approach that Trump is selling.
A 2014 review of the research by Peter Reuter at the University of Maryland and Harold Pollack at the University of Chicago, for example, concluded that prohibition does make drugs more expensive and therefore less accessible, but more stringent measures — such as harsh police crackdowns or longer prison sentences — have no significant effect beyond that of prohibition. In other words, the “tough on crime” approach does little to nothing to actually stop the flow of drugs and drug use.
As for Trump’s wall, the research is also clear that the wall wouldn’t do much of anything to combat the opioid crisis. In fact, border security in general is a fairly weak approach to combating drug use, as a 2013 report by journalist Reed Karaim found in the aftermath of years of border security buildups:
Most border security analysts say there is little evidence the buildup has significantly reduced the availability of illegal narcotics in the United States. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has cited reduced use of some drugs, especially cocaine, as proof the buildup is working. But other drugs have grown in popularity, and smugglers have proved adept at shifting their methods and locations in response to interdiction efforts.
Other analysts agree.
“A wall alone cannot stop the flow of drugs into the United States,” Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center, told me in 2017. “If we’re talking about a broader increase in border security, there could be some — probably minor — implications for the overall numbers of drugs being trafficked. But history shows us that border enforcement has been much more effective at changing the when and where of drugs being brought into the United States rather than the overall amount of drugs being brought into the United States.”
One problem: Most illegal drugs come through legal ports of entry. In fact, much of the illicitly produced fentanyl that comes into the US from China is believed to ship throughthe mail. Other substances, such as heroin, are by and large smuggled through legal trade or transportation routes — think roads, commercial ships, and airplanes.
All of this creates big problems for addressing America’s opioid epidemic. The crisis, experts say, will likely require tens of billions of dollars over the next few years to fully address. As Katz found, some experts don’t agree that even $100 billion over five years is enough.
But getting that funding in place — and making sure it’s used on the right policies — will require a lot of political leadership. Yet right now, the person in charge doesn’t seem that interested in committing more money to the opioid crisis. And when he is interested, he emphasizes a border wall that experts say is useless for combating the epidemic.
-
Opioid fight will be long, but Utah Legislature is on right track (EDITORIAL)
Feb 15, 2018 | Park Record (UT)
By Staff
One of the most important topics the Utah State Legislature is tackling in its 2018 session is literally a matter of life and death.
Lawmakers this year have put the opioid epidemic in their crosshairs, highlighting a range of related issues, such as the danger the drugs present to our youth, the role medical providers must play in order to curb the crisis and the state's responsibility to take legal action against reckless opioid manufacturers. All the commotion won't mean much unless significant legislation is ultimately signed into law, but the attention is encouraging given the destruction opioids have wrought in communities throughout Utah — including Park City.
One of the most intriguing efforts comes from Rep. Joel Briscoe, D-Salt Lake City, who last week requested the House Public Education Appropriations Committee provide $300,000 over the next two years for an opioid crisis education curriculum for adolescents.
The curriculum would be taught in middle and high schools, where teachers currently lack the materials to properly address the issue in their classrooms. During a committee hearing, Amy Jenkins, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah's Genetic Science Learning Center, laid out the stakes: As recently as 2015, she said, Utah ranked seventh in the nation for overdose deaths, causing a tremendous strain on the healthcare system. That's not to mention the pain inflicted on families across the state.
Properly arming students with knowledge is critical if Utah is to dramatically reduce the devastation opioids cause here, Jenkins said. The logic is easy to follow, and lawmakers should do whatever they can to find room in the budget to fund the curriculum.
A Summit County lawmaker has also joined the fight. Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal, whose district covers Park City and much of the county, sponsored a Senate resolution that touches on the dangers opioids prescribed by doctors can present. His legislation, S.C.R. 4, urges the state to study postoperative respiratory depression, a potentially fatal side effect sometimes seen in patients who take opioids after surgery. The resolution has passed both houses of the Legislature and it is now awaiting the governor's signature.
Some of the other pieces of opioid-related legislation are aimed at things like improving statewide substance abuse treatments and increasing the requirements doctors must follow before they prescribe opioids.
Utahns shouldn't expect the epidemic to go away with the flick of a politician's pen. Defeating it will take many more years of sustained focus. Considered together, though, the efforts on Capitol Hill this winter represent an encouraging measure of progress.
-
Dayton wants Big Pharma to fund Minnesota's anti-opioid battle
Feb 14, 2018 | Minnesota Public Radio
By Jon Collins
Gov. Mark Dayton on Wednesday laid out a broad plan to tackle Minnesota's opioid crisis, including a significant increase in funding for prevention and treatment, and a penny-a-pill fee paid by drug companies to cover costs.
The officials called out the pharmaceutical industry for creating the crisis, and urged drug companies to support the legislative efforts.
Opioids are a family of drugs that include everything from illegal heroin to prescription painkillers like Oxycontin. At least 395 people died of opioid overdoses last year in Minnesota, which was an 18 percent increase over the previous year.
The centerpiece of the governor's proposals is a "stewardship fee" required of opioid manufacturers of one cent per milligram of opioids in a pill. Fully implemented, it would be expected to raise about $20 million a year.
"It was opposed last year by the drug companies, whose products have caused this epidemic and continue to fuel this expansion," Dayton said. "Those ongoing efforts should not be paid by Minnesota taxpayers, but rather by the people who created this problem."
The idea had some bipartisan support on Wednesday. Rep. Dave Baker, R-Willmar, acknowledged that a fee on industry could be controversial to some in his caucus.
"Something needs to be done. People are dying," Baker said. "For this issue today, this is the best option for us to help fix this problem."
The country has been slow to come together on this issue of opioids, he said, because it came from the trusted medical community. Baker, whose son Dan died of an opioid overdose in 2011, said Minnesota now has the opportunity to lead the country in dealing with this epidemic
The industry group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America employs five lobbyists at the state Capitol, according to state records.
Nick McGee, a spokesperson for the industry group said in an emailed statement that the penny-a-pill bill ignores factors other than prescription painkillers that led to the opioid epidemic.
"This tax would unfairly penalize and ostracize vulnerable patients who legitimately rely on these prescribed medicines to treat serious, debilitating and sometimes fatal conditions," McGee said.
McGee said Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America are open to working with stakeholders including policy makers to help address the opioid crisis.
The maker of the painkiller OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, employs one lobbyist at the state Capitol. The company didn't respond to a request for comment.
State Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Center, described the penny-a-pill fee plan as "reparations" from drug companies. Eaton's daughter Ariel Eaton-Willson died of a heroin overdose in 2007.
"Whether their intention was to addict the populace or not, that's what happened," Eaton said. "Like many parents who have lost children to this, I'm pretty angry about that. And I don't see any reason why the taxpayers should have to pay to fix this."
• MPR News: Minnesota's opioid epidemic
Dayton said funding for the anti-opioid proposals would be covered by state funds in fiscal 2019 and then covered by penny-a-pill revenue.
State officials noted opioid overdose deaths rose 66 percent between 2010 and 2016. Similar increases have been reported nationwide.
Lexi Reed Hultom of the Steve Rummler Hope Network lost her fiance to an opioid overdose in 2011. She said the country is on a "dangerous trajectory."
U.S. Senator Tina Smith also announced Wednesday that she'll propose a bill similar to the "penny-a-pill" legislation that would require drug companies to pay for solutions to the opioid epidemic at the federal level.
-
Purdue Pharma To Stop Marketing OxyContin To Doctors
Feb 14, 2018 | The Fix
By Paul Gaita
Facing lawsuits for its alleged role in the opioid epidemic, drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma announced on February 12 that it will no longer market its opioid pain medication, OxyContin, to doctors' offices.
The announcement, which was formally issued on February 9, added that the company has significantly "restructured and reduced" its commercial operation by cutting its sales force to about 200 representatives. The move drew scant praise from lawmakers—who continue to pursue the company for allegedly misrepresenting the risks of OxyContin while aggressively marketing it to medical professionals—and health care advocates, who cited declining sales as the primary reason for the decision.
The Stamford, Connecticut-based company, which earned $1.8 billion from the sale of OxyContin in 2017, announced that it will direct its remaining sales staff to focus on Symproic, which treats opioid-related constipation, and other non-opioid medications. Doctors with questions about OxyContin will be referred to the company's medical affairs department—a sea change from the company's previous policy, which had Purdue sales representatives visit medical professionals' offices to promote their products and reportedly woo them with promotional gifts at symposiums.
But for more than a decade, Purdue has come under fire for these aggressive marketing campaigns and claims about the drug's addictive properties. Rising sales of OxyContin ran concurrent with escalating death rates from opioid-related overdoses, which hit 42,000 in 2016, prompting an investigation into the company's marketing of the drug as providing 12 hours of pain relief, despite clear-cut evidence that the drug's efficacy wore off after eight hours.
Three Pharma executives pled guilty to federal charges over the misleading marketing in 2007, and the company paid more than $634 million in fines.
Since then, at least 14 states have filed suit against Purdue over similar allegations; Alabama became the latest, on February 6, when its Attorney General Steve Marshall accused the company of deceptively marketing prescription opioids in order to reap billions of dollars in sales of OxyContin. Though Purdue has denied all allegations listed in the various suits, it has also paid significant amounts to settle lawsuits, including $24 million to the state of Kentucky in 2015.
Response to the announcement was met with skepticism from some health care advocates and opioid dependency experts.
"I don't think that this is coming out of good intentions," said Andrew Kolodny, co-director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at Brandeis University. "I think that sales for OxyContin have already been declining."
Statistics cited by Bloomberg note that the $1.8 billion Purdue earned from OxyContin sales in 2017 marked a significant decrease from figures posted just five years earlier, when sales topped $2.8 billion.
-
Beat you to it, Purdue. Other opioid makers already ditched promotions
Feb 15, 2018 | FiercePharma
By Beth Snyder Bulik
While the news that Purdue Pharma plans to stop marketing opioids made a media splash this week, other opioid makers probably wondered why it was a big deal—because they had already quit.
Endo, Teva, Allergan and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit all stopped marketing opioids before Purdue’s announcement, with some backing off several years ago. And some have not only given up marketing, but also development and production of the powerful painkillers whose abuse has become a nationwide epidemic.
A Janssen spokesperson said the company stopped promoting and developing opioid products in 2015, and noted in its email statement to FiercePharma that, since 2008, the volume of Janssen opioids is less than 1% of the total opioid prescriptions written annually.
Endo stopped promoting Opana ER in 2016 and eliminated the drug’s salesforce shortly after that, said an Endo spokesperson via email. In 2017, it pulled the drug from the market at the FDA’s request “despite having a statutory right to challenge that request, (and) implemented additional anti-diversion measures and terminated its new opioid product development programs,” she said.
Allergan doesn’t “actively market or promote any opioid products today,” said a spokesperson via email. Allergan’s branded opioid drugs, which came to Allergan through acquisitions, haven’t been marketed in years—for Norco not since 2003 and for Kadian and Fiorinal not since 2012.
Allergan also pointed out its drugs' small market share, noting they accounted for less than .04 % of all opioid products prescribed in 2017. Allergan sold its Activis and Watson businesses, which contained all its generic opioid products, to Teva in 2016.
Teva, for its part, stopped promoting Fentora earlier this year, said a spokesperson in email, noting that the company’s other branded opioid Actiq has not been promoted in more than a decade.
Insys Therapeutics, which has been named in lawsuits along with other opioid makers in this story, declined to comment to FiercePharma about opioid marketing. A spokesman said in an email, “We have no comment on this subject presently and typically don’t comment on the decisions of other companies.”
Of course, quitting marketing or even stopping the sale of opioid products won’t make the pharma companies' legal woes go away. Dozens of states and even more cities and counties are suing drugmakers on allegations of improper marketing stretching back years. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., this week published details of $10 million in pharma payments to groups that pushed opioid use in a report of her probe looking at five companies: Purdue, Janssen, Depomed, Insys and Mylan.
Some of the pharma companies that responded to FiercePharma’s query about opioid marketing also added statements about their company’s commitment to help address the opioid crisis, even as they support safe and responsible use of pain medicines for patients.
Teva, for instance, wrote, “Teva recognizes the critical public health issues affecting communities across the U.S. and our goal is to prevent prescription drug abuse without sacrificing patients’ needed access to pain medicine.”
-
Benton County Joins Opioid Lawsuit
Feb 14, 2018 | KFSM (AR)
By Kathryn Gilker
Benton County has joined 70 other counties in the state in the lawsuit against opioid manufactures and distributors.
The lawsuit was filed by the Association of Arkansas Counites and Benton is the last county in our area to join the suit.
Arkansas counties aren`t the only ones involved in this lawsuit, there are more than 100 cities as well as a lot of other states across the nation who are also part of this lawsuit.
Benton County Judge Barry Moehring said it is significant to show a united front across almost every county in the state.
“They`ve had damaging effects across Benton County and across a lot of rural Arkansas and in some cases it`s hit close to home and this sends a message to those folks that different states and counties are serious about doing something about this issue,” he said.
He said opioids impact more people than you may expect.
“Just about everybody I talk to now knows a family that`s been affected by this and the practical effects from a government level is you have an increased number of people who are affected that you have to call ambulances, even the coroner for, increased emergency room visits,” he said.
Moehring said some of these drugs are so potent that emergency responders are having to undergo special training to treat patient who have taken these drugs.
“We`re having to have special substances on our ambulances and on our patrol cars now to deal with it. And so we are actually having to take a lot of extra precautions as a result of this crisis that we weren`t having to take in the past,” he said.
In Benton County the number of opioid overdoses actually dropped from 2010 to 2016 but the CDC expects the number to increase.
The only other Arkansas counties to not yet join the lawsuit are Pulaski, Jefferson, Drew and Crittenden.
-
Feb 14, 2018 | Southwest Times Record (AR)
By Thomas Saccente
Barling has joined other Arkansas cities in a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The Barling Board of Directors voted Tuesday to authorize City Administrator Mike Tanner to sign an opioid litigation engagement letter between the city and the Arkansas Municipal League defense program. A copy of the letter that was included in the meeting packet sets out in writing the terms and conditions upon which multiple law firms will provide legal services to Barling in relation to the investigation and prosecution of claims against companies and other parties involved with the manufacture and/or distribution of opioid medications.
Prior to the vote, Barling City Attorney Matt Ketcham recommended the board of directors authorize Tanner to sign the letter.
“I’ve talked with Mark Hayes (director of legal services for the Arkansas Municipal League) extensively, his general counsel,” Ketcham said. “This is happening whether we sign on to it or not. The attorney general is acting on it. This is going to start happening all across the country. This is probably the next Big Tobacco assault like they did Big Tobacco, 10, 20 years ago, only, I think the way that it is explained to me was expecting more money to trickle down to locales, municipalities, as opposed to the tobacco money that seemed to stop at the state.”
Ketcham said he understands much of that money is going to be put back into things such as law enforcement training and ways to fight drugs and opioids. The counties and cities in the state have joined forces in this matter, as well as the Association of Counties and the Arkansas Municipal League.
“Most of the cities and towns across Arkansas have signed up,” Ketcham said. “I think every county has signed up.”
Ketcham said this is not going to cost Barling anything.
“The law firms are assuming all of the cost and all of the risk, and it’s being done on a contingency fee basis there,” Ketcham said. “I believe the contract specifies that they will get 25 percent of any recovery. They’ll also get the return of their cost, but that would leave, you know, roughly ... 70, 75 percent of that money being distributed at the state and local level.”
-
Albertville joins opioid lawsuit
Feb 14, 2018 | Sand Mountain Reporter (AL)
By Huck Treadwell
The Albertville City Council voted to join a growing lawsuit being filed against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The council passed a resolution allowing Albertville Mayor Tracy Honea to execute an engagement and execution fee agreement with Beard and Beard law firm. The Marshall County Commission and Boaz City Council also passed similar resolutions.
The remainder of this article is under paywall at: http://www.sandmountainreporter.com/news/article_1c6e95b0-11cf-11e8-949d-dff9f72df6a6.html
-
Feb 14, 2018 | The Andalusia Star-News (AL)
By Christopher Smith
The County Commission agreed to join national class act litigation against several opioid pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The State of Alabama filed a lawsuit on Tues., Feb. 6, against the manufacturer of OxyContin and other opioids, becoming the latest state seeking to hold drug companies accountable for an addiction epidemic.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed the lawsuit in Montgomery federal court against Purdue Pharma, L.P. and its branches. The lawsuit claims the manufacturer engaged in deceptive marketing practices that misled patients and doctors about the benefits of the drugs and the risks of addiction to the powerful painkillers.
The state is seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief, and Marshall said in a press release that he expects the suit will be transferred to Ohio as part of the national multi-district litigation.
“Based on the recent events of this opioid epidemic, I think it’s smart that we join this litigation,” County Attorney Stephanie Cotton said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alabama ranks first in the nation in the number of painkiller prescriptions per capita. Alabama had more than 5.8 million opioid prescriptions written in 2015. That equates to a rate of 1.2 prescriptions per person, the highest rate in the country. By comparison, the national per capita was 0.71 in 2015.
Both Birmingham and Mobile have filed cases in U.S. District Court. The city of Gadsden, Etowah County, Tallapoosa County, Tuscaloosa County, Baldwin County, the city of Fort Payne, the town of Cherokee, the city of Greenville, Houston County and the city of Opp have joined the suits.
The County Commission also:Approved a Mediacom contract for the county jail.Considered a contract with Zuercher to provide and maintain a server and software for the sheriff’s department.Approved the Annual Tax Levy FY19.Approved the Annual FY19 County Levies for alcohol licensing.Considered having a written agreement with the Kiwanis Foundation instead of only a verbal agreement regarding the use of the Covington Center Arena.Awarded a bid for steel piling.Approved the purchase of three vehicles for the sheriff’s department coming out of the County Commission funding.
-
County Commission swiftly moves through its agenda
Feb 14, 2018 | The Polk County Standard (GA)
By Kevin Myrick
The County Commission spent several hours hearing citizens and going through committee reports, but kept their regular session much briefer with only a small amount of items needing a vote.
Commissioners moved through their agenda in less than 30 minutes for their February regular session, giving unanimous votes on each item brought before them.
That included the approval of counting time accrued by a former part time employee that now works full time in as a Magistrate Court Judge Christy Garner, who requested years she worked previously be counted back in June 2016, and has finally gotten through the stages of paperwork.
Commissioner Chuck Thaxton asked why Garner was being given the chance to count the hours toward her retirement when no part time employees for the county receive any benefits at all.
The reply was offered by Commissioner Scotty Tillery, who explained that in Garner’s situation as a magistrate court judge, she worked more than normal positions and had her salary not been paid through grants, she likely would have been considered a full time staffer anyhow.
She’ll get three years worth of retirement added toward her benefits through the program used by employees.
Additionally, commissioners approved a new intergovernmental agreement on for incentives provided to industries or companies who are being courted by development officials, and approved an annual agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey for stream water monitoring, totaling $4,755.
Commissioners also gave their approval to a resolution that allows Polk School District to move forward with bond purchases, and to put in place a new airport consultant to replace CDM Smith, who previously held the role.
County Manager Matt Denton said a loss of key personnel at their former company prompted the Commission to choose between three others up for the job, and settled on an agreement with Holt Consulting Company, Inc., to take on the role. The consultant firm works with the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Aviation division on projects, like the clearing of trees at Cornelius Moore Field based on new flight path requirements put in place by the FAA.
One item added to the agenda via amendment at the beginning of the meeting was a resolution to move forward on seeing what attorneys might be able to produce if the county participates in class action litigation being put together against the makers of opioids.
Attorneys from Brinson, Askew and Berry are working with others to put together a lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers for the role they’ve played in the opioid addiction epidemic, which has claimed lives and cost taxpayers untold millions of dollars in fees generated by Public Safety officials trying to save lives and curtail abuse of prescription drugs.
The commission agreed to take the first step by approving a resolution to allow attorneys putting together the lawsuit to include Polk County in the first round of work, but doesn’t tie the county to the suit just yet.
Officials will likely have to gather numbers for lawyers to use in showing the impact opioids had on Polk County in the past.
Commissioner Jose Iglesias did seek in his questions over the issue to find out what the position of ACCG, or the Association of County Commissions in Georgia, had to say about the lawsuits. Denton reported that as far as he knew, they had no position about the suits.
Iglesias requested that they might wait to vote until ACCG provided a position, but after some discussion approved it with the rest of the board.
The resolution additionally doesn’t commit the county to having Brinson, Askew and Berry represent them on the case, only to explore the options available to the county should the litigation be filed in court. No cost will be incurred up front, and the law firm only collects a portion of any monetary awards should plaintiffs win the case.
-
Pittsfield to join opioid lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies
Feb 15, 2018 | The Berkshire Eagle (MA)
By Amanda Drane
Pittsfield is joining a growing list of cities suing pharmaceutical companies to cover costs spiraling from the opioid epidemic.
"Pittsfield in particular has had some significant impacts with this opioid epidemic," Mayor Linda Tyer told members of the City Council, which on Tuesday unanimously approved a mayoral order to obtain legal counsel as part of the lawsuit.
"It's very similar to what occurred in the smoking and tobacco lawsuits," Tyer said.
Tyer said it costs the city nothing to join, but the attorneys will get 25 percent of any money won in the suit.
Health Director Gina Armstrong told councilors there are "never enough resources" to handle the fallout. Ward 6 Councilor John Krol said the civil action is "a long time coming."
"They've devastated our communities," he said. "I credit the administration for taking this step."
Ward 3 Councilor Nick Caccamo said the "massive marketing budgets" of pharmaceutical companies helped popularize opioids. Ward 1 Councilor Helen Moon said she was taught in nursing school that opioids are not addictive — a fact that underscores the penetration of that marketing.
"We in Pittsfield have a huge problem," she said, noting higher per capita overdose rates than other cities. "It's here."
Police Chief Michael Wynn said that between overdoses, property crime and increased calls for service, it's impossible to quantify the epidemic's drain on department resources.
"This is astronomically different than it was even six to seven years ago," he said. "It's been a game changer."
Richard Dohoney, the city's attorney, said the litigation's outcome could take many forms.
"No one has those answers, yet, and we're far away from resolution," he said. -
PCTV Channels Moving, Pittsfield Joins Lawsuit Over Opioids
Feb 15, 2018 | iBerkshires (MA)
By Andy McKeever
PCTV is not happy with Spectrum moving the local access channels.
The cable company is moving Pittsfield Community Television's three channels — Access Pittsfield, CityLink, and Pittsfield ETV — from Channels 16,17, and 18 to 1301,1302, and 1303 on March 6. Additionally, the company is encrypting the digital signal, so in order to get the stations, the customer needs to rent a cable box.
"By encrypting their channels they will force all cable subscribers to rent one cable box for each of the televisions in their home. That means all televisions, even newer ones, will need a cable box to receive any cable channels from Spectrum. This will place an undue and unwelcome burden on the most vulnerable people in our community — the elderly, folks on fixed incomes — as many of them can't afford the extra $6 to $8 per television to continue to watch even the basic tier of channels," Executive Director Shawn Serre said.
He said the additional cost is "unacceptable." But, also what is unacceptable for Serre is moving the public channels away from the lower tier. That'll make it more difficult for residents to find them. Serre said the current channels will go black on March 6.
"Many viewers will think that they've lost these channels or they are no longer operating. Viewers who normally channel surf in the lower tier of channels are used to easily finding their City Council meetings, school committee meetings, high school sports, and all of the other good, local programming they can find on PCTV," Serre said.
Serre called on the City Council to help get the word out and to fight the cable company's decision. He asked the City Council for support Tuesday night.
"This is the cable company's strategy to marginalize local programming. Let me assure you that we at PCTV are just as frustrated with this planned change as you and your constituents must be," Serre said.
In other business, the city is joining a nationwide lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies for fueling the opioid epidemic. The firm Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor is asking cities and towns to join the litigation suing the major companies for the costs cities and towns bear to combat the opioid crisis.
"We would have the potential to recover funds that would help us pay for the impacts the opioid crisis has had on our community," Mayor Linda Tyer said. "We pay nothing ... if they were to succeed, if they were able to recover funds on our behalf, they'd get 25 percent,"
City Solicitor Richard Dohoney said the suit is a multi-district litigation, in which numerous suits are being grouped together by regions. He compared it to former suits against big tobacco companies that resulted in anti-smoking advertising and programs the companies are still required to pay for. The state of Massachusetts, at the time, also got monetary compensation. There are numerous ways any type of settlement or judgment could play out, he said.
"Clearly it has been a long time coming for our communities, our country, to go after these pharmaceutical companies for what they've done to our communities," Council Vice President John Krol said. "It is a huge economic impact for Pittsfield and many other communities. This is a step in the right direction, we should aggressively go after these companies."
One particular cost noted is the cost of first responders and police. The Fire Department has been carrying the overdose reversal drug Narcan for about a year and a half and firefighters have responded to numerous overdoses.
Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski said Narcan was used 36 times during the first three months it was available. In 2017, the department used it 76 times.
"We've seen a decrease somewhat in the past year. But where it is going to go is anyone's guess," Czerwinski said.
Narcan being widely distributed has helped stem the tide of overdose deaths, according to Health Director Gina Armstrong, but there is still a need for more resources. Pittsfield gets its Narcan through a state grant but there are no guarantees that will continue in the future.
"We, in Pittsfield, have a huge problem," said Ward 1 Councilor Helen Moon, a nurse who recalled her days in school when the pharmaceutical companies pushed the idea that opioids were non-addictive.
Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo said pharmaceutical companies had massive marketing budgets during the 1970s and 1980s to urge doctors to prescribe the painkillers. It is now that the detriments of that are being seen and cities and towns are picking up much of the tab for the damage it has caused.
Police Chief Michael Wynn said he couldn't even put a number on how much it has impacted public safety. He said there have been increased calls for service, overdoses, criminal charges for manslaughter for dealers, and property crimes.
"It is incredibly time consuming. I can't even begin to put a figure on the impact it has had on the drug unit," Wynn said.
Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi praised the lawsuit and hopes to see some type of return.
"The damage that opioids have done to the community and for the added responsibility it has put on our police department ... I'm really glad this is something that will be an action and hopefully the pharmaceutical companies will get punished," Morandi said.
Also this week, Tyer appointed James Parise to the position of police sergeant. -
Legislators join opioid lawsuit, approve JCC center proposal
Feb 15, 2018 | Journal & Republican (NY)
By Steve Virkler
Lewis County legislators last week reversed a prior decision by joining a class-action lawsuit against the major manufacturers of opioid drugs and agreed to a Jefferson Community College educational center proposal with more affordable lease payments than last year’s plan.
Lawmakers on Feb. 6 voted 7-0 to contract with New York City law firm Simmons, Hanly, Conroy P.C., to join planned legal proceedings against manufacturers of prescription opiates; legislators Ronald J. Burns, R-Copenhagen, and Bryan D. Moser, R-Kirschnerville, were absent, while the District 9 seat vacated with the Jan. 1 death of Roscoe K. “Rocky” Fawcett is still unfilled.
Legislators in November opposed a similar measure by a 6-2 vote, with most suggesting they felt uncomfortable placing so much culpability on drug-makers.
However, Legislator Jerry H. King, R-West Leyden, who reintroduced the resolution after previously voting against it, said he would now support the notion as long as any funding received goes directly to combat the epidemic, not just into the general fund.
“If we do win this lawsuit and get this money, we need to make sure we get the money where it’s going to help the people,” he said.
Several other counties, including St. Lawrence, have already signed on with Simmons, Hanly, Conroy to participate in the legal action, which is to pay out 25 percent of any recovery funds after cost reimbursement. The firm won’t charge the counties any money unless the lawsuit results in a financial settlement from the companies.
Joining the class-action suit “puts us on equal footing with taxpayers in other counties,” said Legislator Richard A. Chartrand, D-Lowville, the only current lawmaker to support the measure in November.
Legislators also unanimously approved an updated memorandum of understanding with JCC on the center planned on donated land at Maple Ridge Center off East Road just outside Lowville.
County legislators in 2015 committed up to $4 million for a JCC extension center that would complement but not duplicate courses at the college’s main campus and last year signed off on a memorandum of understanding that would have required the two-year college to make annual lease payments of $250,000 unless certain conditions occurred.
The project, which was put on hold last year due to uncertainty in state aid availability, has now been expanded to include the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services and Cornell Cooperative Extension as sub-lessees.
And, with updated estimates now projecting lower annual operating costs, proposed lease payments have been dropped to $225,000 per year, County Manager Ryan M. Piche said. “We were able to shave it down a little bit from the previous amount,” he said.
Under the proposal, the county in the first three years of the five-year agreement, which may be renewed in five-year increments, agrees to defer up to $50,000 per year if net revenues from class offerings is not sufficient to pay the entire amount. However, if JCC sees a net profit, it would provide for the college to pay half to the county.
Initial plans were for a 20,000-square-foot building, but it has been expanded to 22,000 square feet to provide office space for Cooperative Extension.
The resolution also allows the board chairman or vice chairman to sign a lease agreement with JCC, pending approval by the county attorney.
A project advisory committee is slated to meet regularly to oversee design and development of the proposed center, Mr. Piche said.
Legislators on Feb. 6 also:
■ Approved $67,502.99 in one-time payments to six villages, effectively reimbursing them for county taxes paid on watershed properties outside their municipal boundaries.
■ Approved opening up to 10 county road portions to all-terrain vehicles for the annual Snirt Run April 21.
■ Appointed Mr. Burns to serve as legislative representative on the Lewis County Industrial Development Agency board.
-
Cumberland County suing opioid manufacturers, distributors
Feb 14, 2018 | Central Penn Business Journal (PA)
By Shelby White
Cumberland County is the latest to join a number of governments suing opioid manufacturers and distributors for allegedly misleading the public and medical community about the dangers of using opioids.
The suit, announced Monday and filed on Tuesday, comes just over a month afterGov. Tom Wolf declared the opioid and heroin epidemic a statewide disaster emergency in Pennsylvania and less than two months after York and Dauphin counties filed similar complaints against opioid-makers and providers, whom they blame largely for the opioid crisis.
Among the 20 defendants are four physicians as well as several pharmaceutical giants.
Last year, Cumberland County lost 83 people in opioid-related deaths, a number that has grown over the past four years despite the county’s introduction of several programs designed to combat the opioid crisis, such as a program that secures grant money to provide Naloxone to first responders, an opioid intervention court, and a Vivitrol program at the county prison. Vivitrol is a medication that was originally used to treat alcoholism and is now being used to treat opioid addiction. It works like an opioid receptor blocker to stop opioids from working.
The county is seeking to recover public resource damages, which they say will be used in continuing efforts to confront the opioid epidemic. Vince DiFilippo, chairman of the Cumberland County Board of the Commissioners, said there is no cost to taxpayers with this filing.
Cumberland County is being represented by the national law firm Napoli Sckolnik PPLC, a group of personal injury attorneys based in New York City. Napoli Shkolnik is also representing York County in its litigation.
According to the Office of Attorney General, Pennsylvania had 4,642 fatal drug overdoses in 2016, and 80 percent of persons suffering from heroin addiction began by abusing prescription drugs.
-
Sarpy County Board votes to join federal opioid lawsuit
Feb 15, 2018 | Omaha World-Herald (NE)
By Andrew J. Nelson
The Sarpy County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to join Douglas County and dozens of other local governments across the U.S. suing drug companies over the opioid epidemic.
As with Douglas County, Sarpy will contract with a Florida law firm and the Abboud Law Firm locally in the federal lawsuit against distributors of prescription painkillers.
“The idea is to ... hold the distributors accountable,” said Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov, whose office introduced the measure. “Everyone wants to model this after the tobacco lawsuits.”
Generally, the lawsuits claim drug manufacturers and distributors marketed the drugs deceptively and failed to warn doctors how addictive they were.
Polikov said that much of any money recovered will be directed at rehabilitation, mental health treatment and enforcement efforts.
The Douglas County Board voted in December to join the effort.
Numerous counties and cities and a handful of states have filed such lawsuits.
The Florida law firm Levin Papantonio is representing numerous governments.The Omaha-based Abboud Law Firm is working with the Florida firm. The contracts will be on a contingency basis; the lawyers are paid only if they win.
If they do, Sarpy County would pay the attorneys 30 percent of the money recovered before costs and expenses are deducted.
Greg Abboud, of the Omaha firm, made a presentation to the Sarpy board Tuesday.
The contract voted on Tuesday does not name the companies that may be sued.
-
Effingham County closer to opioid lawsuit
Feb 14, 2018 | Effingham Daily News (IL)
By Graham Milldrum
The Effingham County Board will consider an ordinance declaring the opioid epidemic a "public nuisance," creating part of the foundation for an external law firm to sue the distributors of opioids.
The board's Legislative Committee voted 5-1 this week to advance the proposed ordinance to the full board. One committee member, Rob Arnold, was absent. The "no" vote came from John Perry, who expressed concerns about how any earned money would be distributed, saying he was concerned it would be a "cash grab."
"I wouldn't want to see — not this board, because I trust it — but future boards using this money for anything," he said.
Counties and other public bodies across the state and nation have been considering or have filed similar lawsuits. In October, President Donald Trump called it "the worst drug crisis in American history and even, if you really think about it, world history."
Effingham County State's Attorney Bryan Kibler said he expected any settlement would stipulate how the money could be spent, presumably requiring that the expenditure be related to opioid abuse. It's part of a model to try and recoup some of the costs of opioid addiction from the companies that ship the drug.
The companies have pushed back at the idea that they are solely to blame for the problem.
"We're the logistics experts. We're just moving products," said John Parker, senior vice president of the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, which represents pharmaceutical distribution companies.
The alliance serves as a bridge between the manufacturers and the doctors who prescribe opioids, he said.
"We don't have any ability to drive demand," Parker said.
A large part of the legal theory being used is that distributors are required by law to report suspicious shipments to the DEA. Distributors argue that they have been attempting to do so, but rarely hear a result of their reports.
The DEA has also remained vague about what constitutes a "suspicious order," which makes it hard for them to select what to report, said Parker.
"We don't manufacture. We don't prescribe. We don't dispense," said Parker.
Parker questioned why the focus was on distributors, who only know what drugs they ship to a pharmacy or other company. The DEA, on the other hand, maintains a complete listing of shipments.
He said the issues leading into the widespread addiction and death from opioids are systemic and require a systemic response.
Targeting distributors alone will not be effective, Parker said.
"Litigation is not going to get us to a better place at all," said Parker.
-
Standing Rock Sioux file lawsuit against 24 opioid makers, distributors
Feb 15, 2018 | Becker's Hospital Review
By Brian Zimmerman
Attorneys on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against 24 drugmakers and drug distributors for the companies' alleged roles in facilitating the opioid epidemic within the tribe's reservation, according to a report from the StarTribune.
The 102-page complaint filed in a North Dakota U.S. District Court alleges the companies fraudulently marketed opioids by minimizing the drugs' addiction risk. The suit also alleges the companies did not comply with federal drug laws designed to prevent the diversion of opioids.
"The opioid epidemic has hit Indian Country hard and the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation is no exception," said Tim Purdon, a former U.S. attorney for North Dakota and a member of the legal team representing the tribe.
While drug overdose deaths among all Americans increased by 200 percent between 1999 and 2015, the overdose death rate among Native Americans increased 500 percent, according to the lawsuit.
Among the lawsuit's defendants are drug distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen. Healthcare Distribution Alliance — a national organization of wholesale drug distributors, which represents the distributors named in the suit — described the legal action as misdirected, according to the StarTribune.
"The misuse and abuse of prescription opioids is a complex public health challenge that requires a collaborative and systemic response that engages all stakeholders," John Parker, senior vice president of communications for the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, said in a statement obtained by the StarTribune. "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."
-
Knox County joins fight against opioid distributors and manufacturers
Feb 14, 2018 | The Cleveland American (OK)
By Staff
The Knox County Board of Commissioners announced Tuesday that Knox County, Ohio, is taking a much-needed step to hold accountable the companies responsible for dumping millions of dollars’ worth of prescription opiates into its community. The Board of Commissioners passed a resolution to declare a public nuisance against the opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors and to request the Knox County Common Pleas Court’s approval for the county to retain a legal team to represent the county in potential litigation against the pharmaceutical companies.
Pending approval from the court, Knox County Commissioners will be 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 determined to do everything in our power to stop this epidemic from further destroying the lives of the people of Knox County. Ending this crisis is going to take major collective effort that involves municipal, state and federal leaders, lawmakers, doctors, law enforcement and health officials coming together to find workable solutions,” the commissioners said. “But until we address the source of this epidemic and force drug makers and distributors to follow the law, our community will continue to face an uphill battle.”
The residents of Knox County continue to bear the burden of the cost of the epidemic, as the costs of treatment for addiction, education and law enforcement have continued to rise. Based on the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 5.5 opioid prescriptions were dispensed for every 10 residents of Knox County in 2016. According to the Ohio Department of Health, in 2016, unintentional drug overdoses caused the death of 4,050 Ohio residents, a 32.8 percent increase compared to 2015.
-
County sues drugmakers for opiod 'crisis'
Feb 14, 2018 | The Dispatch (WA)
By Pat Jenkins
Pierce County sued manufacturers of prescription opioids last Thursday, the day before politicians with various county constituencies joined professionals from the fields of healthcare, education and substance abuse at an invitation-only summit meeting on the issue of opiod abuse.
The lawsuit filed Feb. 1 by Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist against the three largest makers and marketers of prescription opioids in the United States – Purdue, Endo and Janssen – alleges an “opioid crisis” was created by the marketing practices of pharmaceutical companies that provided false and misleading information to doctors and patients. The lawsuit disputes claims by the companies that opioids aren’t addictive and area a safe way to treat long-term and chronic pain.
“This is the first time I've asked the County Council” in his nine years as Pierce’s top prosecutor “to file a lawsuit. I'm confident we have a strong case,” Lindberg said.
Opioid overdoses reportedly are the leading cause of death in the U.S. In Pierce County, the number of opioid-related deaths reached 423 in 2016,
more than half of the local homeless population is hooked on opioids, certain types of crime are driven by opioid addiction, and about 10 percent of high school sophomores during 2006-14 reported using painkillers to get high, according to county officials.
Lindbergh said revenues for the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the drugs have skyrocketed. Purdue alone had estimated sales of more than $35 billion in opioids since 1996, he claimed.
Pierce County joins the state of Washington, the cities of Tacoma and Seattle, and other government entities nationwide in litigation against Purdue, the maker of Oxycontin, a well-known opioid pain reliever.
For its case, the county is using Keller Rohrback, a Seattle-based law firm that specializes in large-scale litigation, as outside counsel on a contingency-fee basis.
The summit meeting Feb. 2 at the University of Washington-Tacoma came on the heels of several months of work by the Pierce County Opioid Task Force, a group developing strategies to help address wrongful overuse of pain relievers.
The County Council “declared an opioid crisis in Pierce County last year. This summit is a small part of the action behind that declaration,” said Councilman Derek Young.
Elected officials participating in the gathering included Lindquist and Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor. They gave presentations on the roles of criminal justice and law enforcement in relation to the opioid issue.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, whose 10th Congressional District includes the south Pierce County areas of Graham, South Hill, Spanaway and Roy, also spoke at the summit.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, opioids include heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine and morphine. The pain relievers are generally safe when taken for a short time as prescribed by a doctor, but can be addictive because they produce euphoria. Regular use—even prescribed by a doctor—can lead to dependenc, overdoses and deaths.
-
Feb 15, 2018 | WBUP (ABC)
By Marquette, MI
Video Link: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32719126?token=2515dafb-d2c9-4aab-8d2f-645187f44c26
Rough Transcript: Houghton County is being invited to join a mass-action lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies. houghton county asked to join opioidlawsuit>> According to Keweenaw Report, attorneys from the Same Bernstein Law Firm and Weitz and Luxenberg spoke to the county board of commissioners meeting Tuesday night. Dozens of municipalities have already agreed to have several law firms on retainer as the firms try to hold drug manufacturers and distributors accountable for the opioid crisis. The widespread availability of opioid products increases the amount of money that counties spend on increased law enforcement, judicial processing, incarceration, medical care of addicts and costs associated with deaths of residents due to overdoses.
-
Politics and Public Policy Today
Feb 15, 2018 | CSPAN
By National Programming
Video Link: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32724942?token=2515dafb-d2c9-4aab-8d2f-645187f44c26
Rough Transcript: big pharma and cost taxpayers and part d recipients more. the next question concerns opioids. as you know, 41 attorneys generals have conducted an investigation of the opioid crisis. hundreds of localities have brought legal action against pharma. you know that medicare covers nearly four in 10 not barely adults with an opioid addiction. in 2013, medicaid spent $9.4 billion for their care. my question is, can you report to us on what this administration has done to investigate the role of pharmaceutical manufacturers and when can we expect the administration to bring the legal action against these pharmaceutical companies for their role in creating this problem. and stop billing at all to the taxpayers. for today, sir, would you answer
-
Feb 15, 2018 | CSPAN
By National Programming
Video Link: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32726800?token=2515dafb-d2c9-4aab-8d2f-645187f44c26
Rough Transcript: thank you for the last question. it raises a profoundly important topic. you may or may not know, but as state attorney general, i sued one of the major opioid manufacturers in the country. it happens to be a connecticut company because of misleading or deceptive advertising. we led the federal government in that effort. eventually we were joined by the department of justice and the state attorney general's enjoined my action and there is still ongoing in my view, misleading and dispositive -- deceptive advertising surrounding powerful painkillers that could lead to
-
Feb 14, 2018 | WPSD (NBC)
By Paducah, KY
Video Link: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32726802?token=2515dafb-d2c9-4aab-8d2f-645187f44c26
Rough Transcript: in mccracken county leah shields wpsd local 6> the healthcare distribution alliance that representcompanies like messon, amerisourcebergen, and cardinal health sent us this statement. it reads in part -- quote -- "given our role, the ide that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense an lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and is regulated -- the brging lawsuits would beetter served addressing the root causes, rather tn trying to redirect blame through litigation." ###
-
Feb 14, 2018 | KSTP (ABC)
By Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Video Link: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/32726804?token=2515dafb-d2c9-4aab-8d2f-645187f44c26
Rough Transcript: today governor dayton announced a plan for tackling the opioid crisis in minnesota. according to the minnesota department of health, more than 375 people died of opioid-involved deaths in 2016. that's up 12% compared to the year before. oxycodone and hydrocodone accounted for the most lives lost. >> our goals are to save lives and prevent harm. >> this proposal aims to reduce barriers to opioid treatment by investing in local treatment options. it also expands access to life-saving overdose medications and it supports law enforcement efforts to reduce the flow of ill elicit opioid noose our communities. pampt of the bill would also require drug manufacturers to pay a fee back to the state. >>
McCaskill Report
MDL
Commentary and FYIs
Southeast (AR, AL, GA)
Northeast (MA, NY, PA)
Midwest (NE, IL, ND)
Southwest (OK)
Northwest (WA)
Broadcast Media Coverage
Add recipients
Suggested