Opioid Litigation Daily Media report - 3/30/18

Arkansas OAG Suit

1. Arkansas sues opioid manufacturers for roles in epidemic

   Mar 29, 2018 | Reuters

   By Nate Raymond
   
   
   Arkansas' attorney general on Thursday joined the widening mass of litigation against opioid manufacturers, accusing three drugmakers of promoting addictive painkillers in ways that falsely denied or trivialized their risks.
2. Arkansas faults drug makers for deadly opioid crisis

   Mar 30, 2018 | Associated Press

   By Kelly P. Kissel
   
   
   Arkansas officials say they are suing three drug manufacturers, claiming that their marketing led to an increase in opioid abuse that resulted in 401 deaths two years ago.
3. Arkansas says drug makers at fault for deadly opioid crisis

   Mar 29, 2018 | KATV (AR)

   By Staff / AP
   
   
   Arkansas officials say they are suing three drug manufacturers, claiming that their marketing led to an increase in opioid abuse that resulted in 401 deaths two years ago.
4. 'I'm going to make them pay for what they have done': Arkansas suing 3 opioid manufacturers

   Mar 29, 2018 | THV11 (AR)

   By Katyln Gardenhire
   
   
   Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced that she plans to file a lawsuit against three opioid manufacturers on behalf of the State. Governor Asa Hutchinson was on hand for the announcement at the capitol.
5. Arkansas suing opioid manufacturers

   Mar 29, 2018 | Newtown County Times (AR)

   By Staff
   
   
   Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge was joined by Governor Asa Hutchinson today announcing that she has filed a lawsuit against the opioid manufacturers Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Endo on behalf of the State of Arkansas. Rutledge and Hutchinson are united in their efforts to fight the opioid epidemic and will do everything in their powers to bring an end to this deadly issue, including legal action against the companies responsible for over-proliferation of opioids.
6. State sues 3 firms over opioids crisis; AG alleges deceit to hawk pain pills

   Mar 30, 2018 | Arkansas Online (AR)

   By Amanda Claire Curcio
   
   
   Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said she sued opioid manufacturers Thursday to "make them pay for what they have done to Arkansas."
7. AR AG Files Lawsuit Against 3 Drug Companies

   Mar 30, 2018 | Ozarks First.com (MO)

   By Kark
   
   
   Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is focusing on violations of the state's Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
8. AR Attorney General Targets Opioid Manufacturers in Lawsuit

   Mar 29, 2018 | Fox 16 (AR)

   By Jessi Turnure
   
   
   Rutledge is focusing on violations of the state's Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
9. Arkansas AG files suit against three drug companies for misleading public on opioids

   Mar 29, 2018 | Arkansas Times (AR)

   By Benjamin Hardy
   
   
   Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced on Thursday a new lawsuit against drug manufacturers Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Endo Pharmaceuticals for deploying "marketing schemes and misinformation campaigns" that she said helped create the state's opioid crisis.

Commentary and FYIs

10. Enduring pain: how a 1996 opioid policy change had long-lasting effects

    Mar 30, 2018 | The Guardian

    By Edward Helmore
    
    
    Twenty-two years ago, in 1996, the influential American Pain Society introduced the concept that pain should be treated as a “fifth vital sign”, alongside the normal things doctors routinely check in their patients – body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. America’s medical profession broadly welcomed the idea and began to ask patients routinely how much pain they were in.
11. Purdue Pharma names head of corporate social responsibility as CT lawsuit advances

    Mar 29, 2018 | Westfair Online (CT)

    By Kevin Zimmerman
    
    
    On the same day a lawsuit filed by 18 Connecticut municipalities – including several in Fairfield County – against Purdue Pharma was to be heard by a Superior Court judge in Hartford, the pharmaceutical corporation announced that Lisa C. Miller was appointed head of Corporate Social Responsibility, a new position at the company.
12. House panel to hold last opioid hearing before producing final legislation

    Mar 29, 2018 | The Hill

    By Rachel Roubein
    
    
    The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced it will hold its last legislative hearing on opioids on April 11, as the panel pushes to have a package to the House floor by Memorial Day weekend.
13. Trump wants to reduce opioid prescriptions by one-third. We can start now

    Mar 30, 2018 | STAT News

    By Richard J. Barty & Maureen V. Hill
    
    
    President Trump’s recent call to reduce opioid prescriptions by one-third over the next three years may seem like a daunting task, even unrealistic. But it’s possible to do right now — without a lot of fanfare, new regulatory rules, or torturous legislation.
14. NY budget talks: Opioid tax, Manhattan taxi surcharge

    Mar 29, 2018 | Associated Press

    By David Klepper
    
    
    New York lawmakers inched closer to a deal on a new state budget Thursday that includes a tax on opioid manufacturers, surcharges on taxi and Uber rides in Manhattan and a new, uniform sexual harassment policy for government workers.

Northeast (PA, MA, ME, CT)

15. Wilkes-Barre Suing Drug Companies Over Opioid Crisis

    Mar 30, 2018 | WNEP (PA)

    By Carolyn Blackburne
    
    
    The city of Wilkes-Barre says its had enough of drug companies dumping millions of dollars worth of opiates into our community and now it's taking a stand.
16. City joins opioid lawsuit

    Mar 30, 2018 | The Citizens Voice (PA)

    By Steve Mocarsky
    
    
    The city will join other government agencies across the nation in suing drug manufacturers and wholesale distributors that officials claim are responsible for making the opioid epidemic possible by “dumping millions of dollars’ worth of prescription opioids” into the community.
17. Wilkes-Barre announces lawsuit against opioid makers, distributors

    Mar 29, 2018 | Times Leader (PA)

    By Michael Reich
    
    
    Following the lead of Luzerne County and other cities and counties nationwide, Wilkes-Barre announced Thursday it is suing five of the largest manufacturers of prescription opioids and their related firms plus three of the largest wholesale drug distributors.
18. Eastham Town News; Town joins opioid litigation

    Mar 30, 2018 | Wicked Local Eastham (MA)

    By Staff
    
    
    The board of selectmen voted last week to join the Massachusetts Opioid Litigation Attorneys (MOLA) in suing pharmaceutical companies to recover municipal costs that have been incurred as a result of the opioid crisis.
19. Harwich Town News: Fee waiver denied, opioid lawsuit

    Mar 30, 2018 | Wicked Local Harwich (MA)

    By Staff
    
    
    The selectmen were presented Monday with a request from a resident for a $315 board of appeals fee waiver related to her complaints about lighting levels at the Fontaine Medical Center.
20. Rockland may join class action lawsuit against opioid pushers

    Mar 30, 2018 | Villagesoup (ME)

    By Stephen Betts
    
    
    The Rockland City Council will decide next month whether to join a national class-action lawsuit against opioid manufacturers for pushing their drugs and causing an epidemic of drug addiction.
21. Newtown and Allies' Lawsuit Vs. Opioid Makers Has Day in Court

    Mar 29, 2018 | Newtown Patch

    By Rich Kirby
    
    
    Newtown and 17 other municipalities which allied themselves against several large pharmaceutical companies over the opioid abuse crisis are having their day in court.

Midwest (WI, OH, MI)

22. Washington County Commissioners asked to join opioid lawsuits

    Mar 29, 2018 | WTAP (OH)

    By Todd Baucher
    
    
    Wood County governments recently signed on to join lawsuits related to the opioid epidemic.
23. Vilas County joins nationwide opioid lawsuit

    Mar 30, 2018 | Lakeland Times (WI)

    By Brian Jopek
    
    
    It's taken some time and discussion at primarily committee level but the Vilas County board voted Tuesday to have the county join in ongoing litigation against large pharmaceutical companies which manufacture drugs - opioids - such as oxycodone.
24. Another law firm wants county to join opioid suit

    Mar 30, 2018 | WTVB (MI)

    By Ken Delaney
    
    
    As the Branch County Board of Commissioners considers joining ongoing litigation in the national opioid crisis, they heard a second presentation during their work session Thursday from a representative of a Detroit law firm.

Southeast (GA, MS)

25. Organization speaks out on Cook. Co. opioid lawsuit

    Mar 30, 2018 | WALB (GA)

    By Damond Arnold
    
    
    One South Georgia organization is speaking out in favor of the class action lawsuit filed by Cook County this month against several major pharmaceutical companies they believe played a role in the opioid epidemic.
26. Woodstock Joins Opioid Class Action Lawsuit

    Mar 29, 2018 | Woodstock Patch (GA)

    By Kristal Dixon
    
    
    The city of Woodstock has signed on to join a class action lawsuit against drug manufacturers they say have marketed the use of highly-addictive narcotics that has led to an astonishing rise in opioid use and overdoses around the state and country.
27. Monroe County Supervisors approve for county to enter into opioid lawsuit

    Mar 30, 2018 | Monroe Daily Journal (MS)

    By Ray Van Dusen
    
    
    Monroe County is joining the list, along with several other government bodies from throughout the southeast, to seek retribution for expenses incurred from the opioid addiction epidemic.

Northwest (WA)

28. Thurston County Announces Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers

    Mar 29, 2018 | The Chronicle (WA)

    By Staff
    
    
    Thurston County announced today it would join other cities and counties across the state of Washington and the state Attorney General’s Office in suing opioid drug manufacturers for the effects of the addictive drugs on its communities.

West (UT)

29. County plans to sue opioid manufacturers for marketing lies

    Mar 29, 2018 | The Moab Times Independent (UT)

    By Rose Egelhoff
    
    
    Every month in Utah, 23 people die from prescription drug overdoses, according to the Utah Department of Health. The main culprit is opioids, a class of drugs used for pain relief that have addictive properties — and Grand County will soon involve itself in a lawsuit against manufacturers in a response to the drug abuse crisis.

Broadcast Media Coverage

30. Good Day Arkansas

    Mar 30, 2018 | Little Rock, AR

    By KLRT (Fox)
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33918731?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e
31. Daybreak on Z

    Mar 30, 2018 | Springfield, MO

    By KOZL (Fox)
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33919564?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e
32. FOX 16 News at 7

    Mar 30, 2018 | Jackson, TN

    By WJKT (Fox)
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33919579?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e
33. FOX23 News This Morning

    Mar 30, 2018 | Tulsa, OK

    By KOKI (Fox)
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920208?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e
34. 40/29 News Sunrise

    Mar 30, 2018 | Ft. Smith, AR

    By KHBS (ABC)
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920596?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e
35. Daybreak - Early

    Mar 30, 2018 | Little Rock, AR

    By KATV (ABC)
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920601?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e
36. Good Morning Connecticut at 6 AM

    Mar 30, 2018 | Hartford & New Haven, CT

    By WCTX (MNT)
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920623?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e
37. Eyewitness News at 6:30am

    Mar 30, 2018 | Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, PA

    By WBRE (NBC)
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920670?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e
38. Channel 2 Action News at 6:00PM

    Mar 29, 2018 | Atlanta, GA

    By WSB (ABC)
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920619?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e
39. ABC 27 News at Sunrise 6:30am

    Mar 30, 2018 | Tallahassee, FL

    By WTXL (ABC)
    
    
    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920660?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

Arkansas OAG Suit

1. Arkansas sues opioid manufacturers for roles in epidemic

   Mar 29, 2018 | Reuters

   By Nate Raymond

   Arkansas' attorney general on Thursday joined the widening mass of litigation against opioid manufacturers, accusing three drugmakers of promoting addictive painkillers in ways that falsely denied or trivialized their risks.

   Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed a lawsuit in state court in Little Rock accusing Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson and Endo International Plc of engaging in misleading marketing practices.

   The case made Arkansas at least the 17th U.S. state to sue manufacturers of prescription opiods amid a nationwide epidemic of addiction to the painkillers.

   The lawsuit contended the drugmakers spent millions of dollars on promotional activities that downplayed the risks of addiction associated with opioids while falsely touting the benefits of using the drugs to treat chronic pain.

   "The reckless actions of these opioid manufacturers have wreaked havoc upon Arkansas and her citizens for far too long," Rutledge said in a statement.

   Purdue, the manufacturer of OxyContin, denied the allegations in a statement while saying it is "deeply troubled by the prescription and illicit opioid abuse crisis."

   Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit - which manufactures drugs including the opioid Duragesic, a form of fentanyl - called its marketing activities "appropriate and responsible." Endo did not respond to a request for comment.

   Prescription opioids are intended to treat pain, but the outbreak of addiction to the drugs has led to a tsunami of lawsuits by cities and counties. The lawsuits have sought to recoup damages from drugmakers for their role in the epidemic.

   Opioids were involved in more than 42,000 overdose deaths in 2016, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

   At least 433 lawsuits are consolidated before U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland, who has been pushing for a quick settlement and has invited state attorneys general with cases and probes not before him to participate in the talks.

   Plaintiffs' lawyers pursuing the case have generally not quantified the potential costs involved in the cases but have compared them with litigation by states against the tobacco industry that led to 1998's $246 billion settlement.

   The U.S. Justice Department in a March 1 filing sought 30 days to evaluate participating in the litigation, citing the "substantial costs that the federal government has borne as a result of the opioid epidemic."

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2. Arkansas faults drug makers for deadly opioid crisis

   Mar 30, 2018 | Associated Press

   By Kelly P. Kissel

   Arkansas officials say they are suing three drug manufacturers, claiming that their marketing led to an increase in opioid abuse that resulted in 401 deaths two years ago.

   The lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court names Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Endo Pharmaceuticals. The state claims they broke laws against deceptive trade practices and the filing of false Medicaid claims.

   The state says the manufacturers misled people into believing opioids could be used as a non-addictive treatment for chronic pain.

   Other states have filed their own lawsuits against drug companies while others are considering claims to cover multiple states.

   Several Arkansas cities and counties filed a similar lawsuit last week.

   Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals says it promoted its drugs responsibly and that the accusations are baseless.

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3. Arkansas says drug makers at fault for deadly opioid crisis

   Mar 29, 2018 | KATV (AR)

   By Staff / AP

   Arkansas officials say they are suing three drug manufacturers, claiming that their marketing led to an increase in opioid abuse that resulted in 401 deaths two years ago.

   The lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court names Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Endo Pharmaceuticals. The state claims they broke laws against deceptive trade practices and the filing of false Medicaid claims.

   The state says the manufacturers misled people into believing opioids could be used as a non-addictive treatment for chronic pain.

   Other states have filed their own lawsuits against drug companies while others are considering claims to cover multiple states.

   Several Arkansas cities and counties filed a similar lawsuit last week.

   Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals says it promoted its drugs responsibly and that the accusations are baseless.

   Jessica Castles Smith, a spokesperson for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., released the following statement on the claims:
   

   "Our actions in the marketing and promotion of these medicines were appropriate and responsible. The labels for our prescription opioid pain medicines provide information about their risks and benefits, and the allegations made against our company are baseless and unsubstantiated. In fact, our medications have some of the lowest rates of abuse among this class of medications.

   "Opioid abuse and addiction are serious public health issues. We are committed to being part of the ongoing dialogue and to doing our part to find ways to address this crisis."

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4. 'I'm going to make them pay for what they have done': Arkansas suing 3 opioid manufacturers

   Mar 29, 2018 | THV11 (AR)

   By Katyln Gardenhire

   Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced that she plans to file a lawsuit against three opioid manufacturers on behalf of the State. Governor Asa Hutchinson was on hand for the announcement at the capitol.

   The suit is being brought against Purdue, Johnson & Johnson and Endo. Rutledge tweeted that this is in response to the opioid abuse epidemic.

   "The health and [wellbeing] of the public must always come first," she tweeted. "Drug companies should never place their desire for profits above the health of their customers."

   Her assertion that profits have contributed to the disregard of what has become a public health crisis by opioid manufacturers is backed up by another tweet.

   "Opioids generated $11 billion in revenue for drug companies in 2014 alone," Rutledge said in the tweet.

   THV11's Katlyn Gardenhire reached out to the manufacturers for statements regarding the lawsuit.

   Stephen Mock, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs with Endo responded, "It is Endo's policy not to comment on current litigation."

   Jessica Castles Smith, spokesperson of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [Johnson & Johnson] issued a statement that said, "Our actions in the marketing and promotion of these medicines were appropriate and responsible. The labels for our prescription opioid pain medicines provide information about their risks and benefits, and the allegations made against our company are baseless and unsubstantiated. In fact, our medications have some of the lowest rates of abuse among this class of medications. Opioid abuse and addiction are serious public health issues. We are committed to being part of the ongoing dialogue and to doing our part to find ways to address this crisis."

   Advocates for this issue say that this announcement has been a long time coming, they believe this is one of the first big steps to end the opioid epidemic. Recovery coordinator for the Exodus Project, Jimmy McGill, was one of those advocates. “I think it's about time. I think the manufactures of opiates knew what they were doing when they launched and I think it's about time they start reimbursing for some of the damages that they've done,” he said.

   THV11 is committed to covering the opioid epidemic's effects in Arkansas through our series Saving a Generation. Visit that section of our website for continuing coverage of the crisis.© 2018 KTHV

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5. Arkansas suing opioid manufacturers

   Mar 29, 2018 | Newtown County Times (AR)

   By Staff

   Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge was joined by Governor Asa Hutchinson today announcing that she has filed a lawsuit against the opioid manufacturers Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Endo on behalf of the State of Arkansas. Rutledge and Hutchinson are united in their efforts to fight the opioid epidemic and will do everything in their powers to bring an end to this deadly issue, including legal action against the companies responsible for over-proliferation of opioids.

   “The reckless actions of these opioid manufacturers have wreaked havoc upon Arkansas and her citizens for far too long,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “I will not stand idly by and allow companies to reap billions in profits at the expense of our health and safety. The marketing schemes and misinformation campaigns utilized by Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Endo are irresponsible and downright dangerous. This is a muti-faceted problem and we must take every action to solve it including holding those companies accountable that are responsible for the opioid epidemic.”  

   The opioid epidemic has devastated Arkansas and continues to cause lasting damage. The devastation began when opioid manufacturers intentionally started to mislead the medical community and public about the dangers of opioids. These manufacturers propagated use of opioids as a non-addictive treatment for chronic pain. This was a catastrophic lie. Rutledge is suing the opioid manufacturers who created the problem in Arkansas for violations of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Arkansas Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act. The suit is seeking restitution for the damage caused by opioid misuse, costs associated with ending the opioid epidemic and fines.

   “Over the years, I have seen the drug fight as a community leader, as a member of Congress, as a federal prosecutor, as director of the DEA and now as governor,” Governor Asa Hutchinson said. “The opioid epidemic will not yield unless we continue taking critical steps to fight back. We have seen opioid abuse affect communities all across the country, including right here in Arkansas, and I am pleased that we are working to identify responsible partners who can make a difference in curtailing the abuse of opioids.”

   This lawsuit is just the newest step in Rutledge’s multifaceted approach to solving the opioid crisis. Last fall Rutledge launched Prescription for Life, a first-in-the-nation educational tool offered at no cost to all high school students in the State to help them understand the dangers of prescription drug misuse and how to prevent abuse. To date, it has been launched in 49 schools across 44 counties and reached over 3,800 students with an additional 20 schools committed to launch the program this fall. Each year, Rutledge has partnered with a number of agencies in hosting the Arkansas Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Summit, a free training and educational opportunity for law enforcement officers, medical professionals, pharmacists and educators. And in addition to the bi-annual Prescription Drug Take Back Day, Rutledge began partnering in 2016 with local law enforcement across the State to provide prescription drug take back boxes at every mobile office, held yearly in all 75 counties. To date, nearly 500 pounds of prescription drugs and have been collected and disposed of safely – keeping them out of the hands of children and those with addictions.

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6. State sues 3 firms over opioids crisis; AG alleges deceit to hawk pain pills

   Mar 30, 2018 | Arkansas Online (AR)

   By Amanda Claire Curcio

   Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said she sued opioid manufacturers Thursday to "make them pay for what they have done to Arkansas."

   The 52-page complaint, filed in the 6th Judicial Circuit Court of Pulaski County, says three drug companies fueled the opioid epidemic in Arkansas, flooding the state with painkillers through deceitful and aggressive marketing practices and downplaying risks associated with the highly addictive narcotics.

   The suit also linked the prevalence of pain pills to growing opioid abuse and overdose deaths, using 2016 research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

   "This epidemic hits every single community," Rutledge said during a Thursday news conference. "It's a lethal and tragic addiction that is destroying lives."

   Officials attribute Arkansas' opioid use to an increase in emergency room visits, first-responders' frequent use of expensive overdose-reversal drugs on opioid users, longer hospital stays for opioid-addicted newborns, treatment facility admissions and crime.

   The attorney general's suit differs from two recent Arkansas cases leveled against top opioid-makers. Thursday's filing charges that the companies violated deceptive trade laws by "knowingly making false representations" of the drugs' characteristics and advertising their use under false pretenses.

   Rutledge also argues that the companies committed Medicaid fraud since the state wouldn't have reimbursed claims for these prescriptions if the opioid-makers hadn't lied about the drugs' effectiveness in chronic pain patients.

   Initial research indicated that opioids made by Purdue Pharma, Endo, and Johnson and Johnson Co., were among the most distributed opioids in the state, making those companies the targets of the suit, Rutledge said.

   Between 1999 and 2017, the state's Medicaid program reimbursed pharmacies at least $6.2 million for prescriptions for opioids made by the three companies, according to an analysis of federal data by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

   Medicaid covered more than 670,000 individual prescriptions for those companies' opioids during those years, the newspaper's analysis shows.

   For every 100 state residents, there are 114 opioids prescriptions, according to 2016 federal prescribing records. Arkansas' opioid prescribing rate is second only to Alabama, which had 121 prescriptions for every 100 residents that year.

   More Arkansas children, ages 12-17, misused prescription pain relievers than children in all other states, a 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found.

   Opioid-related overdose deaths have also increased over the past decade in the state, but exact figures are unclear because of inconsistencies in coroner reporting and death investigations.

   The federal National Center for Injury Prevention and Control found that between 2015 and 2016, opioid-involved deaths rose in "every subgroup examined" -- regardless of age, race and sex. The study, released Thursday, looked at fatal overdose information from 31 states and Washington, D.C.

   Arkansas wasn't included in the report because researchers examined only states that submitted reliable data on drug-involved deaths.

   Rutledge's filing comes days after a coalition of officials from 72 counties and 15 cities announced that they sued dozens of drug firms for their roles in the opioid crisis. That case is in Crittenden County Circuit Court.

   In December, the Association of Arkansas Counties filed a suit in federal court, that also argued that opioid manufacturers and distributors should pay for the costs related to local opioids misuse. That case is now part of a larger effort called the National Prescription Opiate Litigation, combining at least 64 separate suits. The group litigation has since been transferred to the Northern District of Ohio.

   At Thursday's news conference, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said litigation was vital in recouping existing costs associated with opioid abuse, as well as funding future drug treatment and educational programs for students, medical providers and the general public.

   "I've seen the problem of prescription drug abuse from just about every angle. I see it as a new angle, when I'm governor," said Hutchinson, a former Drug Enforcement Administration chief. "And that is the heartache it causes members of families, but also the cost that it is to the state. ... I see this as an important step, a significant step, in our overall efforts to combat opioid abuse."

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7. AR AG Files Lawsuit Against 3 Drug Companies

   Mar 30, 2018 | Ozarks First.com (MO)

   By Kark

   Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is focusing on violations of the state's Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. 

   She argues these companies' deceitful actions have cost the Arkansas Medicaid program millions of dollars. 

   The attorney general believes the manufacturers knew their representation of the risks of opioids to patients and doctors contradicted scientific evidence. 

   Rutledge says the result, 401 pill bottles, representing the Arkansas who died from a prescription drug overdose in 2016. 

   "These drug companies must pay for the pain and suffering that they have caused Arkansans. They must pay for the financial burden that they have caused and continue to place on the state of Arkansas 
   and our taxpayers,"  says Leslie Rutledge. 

   Rutledge is also seeking to recover damages for law enforcement and state government. 

   During Thursday's press conference, she says she thought the two state laws referenced gave Arkansas a better chance against the companies solo, rather than joining a multi-state lawsuit.

   Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and Governor Asa Hutchinson released a joint statement on the lawsuit on Thursday.

   "The reckless actions of these opioid manufacturers have wreaked havoc upon Arkansas and her citizens for far too long," says Leslie Rutledge. "I will not stand idly by and allow companies to reap billions in profits at the expense of our health and safety.

   "The marketing schemes and misinformation campaigns utilized by Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Endo are irresponsible and downright dangerous. This is a multi-faceted problem and we must take every action to solve it including holding those companies accountable that are responsible for the opioid epidemic."  

   "Over the years, I have seen the drug fight as a community leader, as a member of Congress, as a federal prosecutor, as director of the DEA and now as governor," Governor Asa Hutchinson said. "The opioid epidemic will not yield unless we continue taking critical steps to fight back. We have seen opioid abuse affect communities all across the country, including right here in Arkansas, and I am pleased that we are working to identify responsible partners who can make a difference in curtailing the abuse of opioids."

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8. AR Attorney General Targets Opioid Manufacturers in Lawsuit

   Mar 29, 2018 | Fox 16 (AR)

   By Jessi Turnure

   Rutledge is focusing on violations of the state's Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. 

   She argues these companies' deceitful actions have cost the Arkansas Medicaid program millions of dollars. 

   The attorney general believes the manufacturers knew their representation of the risks of opioids to patients and doctors contradicted scientific evidence. 

   Rutledge says the result, 401 pill bottles, representing the Arkansas who died from a prescription drug overdose in 2016. 

   "These drug companies must pay for the pain and suffering that they have caused Arkansans. They must pay for the financial burden that they have caused and continue to place on the state of Arkansas 
   and our taxpayers,"  says Leslie Rutledge. 

   Rutledge is also seeking to recover damages for law enforcement and state government. 

   During today's press conference, she says she thought the two state laws referenced gave Arkansas a better chance against the companies solo, rather than joining a multi-state lawsuit. 

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9. Arkansas AG files suit against three drug companies for misleading public on opioids

   Mar 29, 2018 | Arkansas Times (AR)

   By Benjamin Hardy

   Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced on Thursday a new lawsuit against drug manufacturers Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Endo Pharmaceuticals for deploying "marketing schemes and misinformation campaigns" that she said helped create the state's opioid crisis.

   The drug companies misled doctors and other medical providers by deceptively downplaying the risks associated with prescription painkillers, she said. They "falsely touted benefits" of drugs such as OxyContin and Percoset despite a lack of good evidence to support their claims. Drug companies "worked hard to change the longstanding medical understanding of opioids" and have been rewarded with $11 billion in opioid-related revenue in 2014 alone, Rutledge said. 
   
   Meanwhile, Arkansas has reaped "a public health crisis of epic proportions." The state's opioid prescription rate is the second highest in the U.S., and drug-associated overdoses are on the rise.
   
   "I am going to make them pay for what they have done to Arkansas," Rutledge declared today with Governor Hutchinson at her side. She presented a display of prescription pill bottles in the shape of the state, each representing one of the 401 opioid deaths in Arkansas in 2016.
   
   Rutledge announced earlier this year she'd hired outside counsel to assist with the investigation of drugmakers. 
   
   Rutledge is suing for damages under the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Arkansas Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act, among others. Here's the complaint. She called the Medicaid fraud claim "the most significant" of the claims.
   

   "The actions of these manufacturers caused prescriptions for opioids to be written, filled and paid by the Arkansas Medicaid program. But for the intentional misrepresentation and lies of these companies, these Medicaid claims would not have been paid," Rutledge said today. She said the state didn't have an estimate on the cost to its Medicaid program.
   
   As for the deceptive trade practices claim, Rutledge said, the drug manufacturers "spent … millions of dollars on promotional materials that falsely deny or play down the risk of opioids while overstating the benefits of using them for chronic pain." 

   The purpose, she said, was to increase demand. "They knew that if they could persuade doctors … that opioids can and should be used for chronic pain, they could reach a far broader group of patients that were much more likely to become addicted to these powerful narcotics."
   
   "Historically, these powerful narcotic painkillers were considered too dangerous and addictive for treatment of long-term chronic pain like back pain, migraines andarthritis. They were used predominately to treat severe pain of life-threatening illnesses like cancer. However, by the late 1990s, and continuing today, these companies engaged in marketing schemes designed to change how opioids should be used," she said.
   

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Commentary and FYIs

10. Enduring pain: how a 1996 opioid policy change had long-lasting effects

    Mar 30, 2018 | The Guardian

    By Edward Helmore

    Twenty-two years ago, in 1996, the influential American Pain Society introduced the concept that pain should be treated as a “fifth vital sign”, alongside the normal things doctors routinely check in their patients – body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. America’s medical profession broadly welcomed the idea and began to ask patients routinely how much pain they were in.

    The same year, the US drug company Purdue Pharma began aggressively marketing a new type of prescription narcotic painkiller, OxyContin, that it claimed was less prone to abuse or dependency than the morphine it mimicked, because it came in the form of slow-release pills.

    But these events set the stage for the opioid crisis that unfolded – and persists – currently killing more than 60,000 Americans a year.

    Prescriptions began flying off pads in doctors’ offices all over the country, as a class of drug traditionally associated with war wounds, post-surgical acute pain or patients dying of cancer became a routine treatment for chronic conditions like back pain or osteoarthritis.

    Now US experts, including leading members of the American Pain Society (APS), are declaring in the strongest terms yet that opioids are not the answer for chronic pain.

    For chronic conditions, “Opioids shouldn’t be on the table to begin with,” said Mark Jensen, editor of the group’s in-house publication, the Journal of Pain, and professor of rehabilitation at the University of Washington, Seattle. “There is no evidence that opioids are helpful. The evidence is they should be offered rarely, if ever.”

    A year-long study from the Veterans Health Administration, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama) earlier this month, concluded that opioids were no more effective against common forms of back and joint pain than acetaminophen, the active drug in brands like Tylenol. Lead author Erin Krebs wrote that “the results do not support initiation of opioid therapy”.

    Groups of military veterans recruited from primary care clinics were given different forms of painkillers.

    “Treatment with opioids was not superior to treatment with non-opioid medications for improving pain-related function over 12 months,” the report said.

    Pain accounts for more than half of primary care visits in the US, according to the Department of Health.

    The problem, APS leaders told the Guardian this week, is that opioids merely block pain without treating its source. Many experts now recommend a multi-disciplinary approach, such as physical and sometimes psychological therapies, before turning to prescriptions.

    But as medical experts shrink from opioids, “there’s no rationality” to the way that is being implemented, says the outgoing APS president, David Williams, a psychologist at University of Michigan. And that drives people to the black market and street drugs like heroin and fentanyl. “Are we throwing the baby out with the bathwater?” asked Mark Sullivan, a psychiatrist at the University of Washington in a January research article.

    Opioid painkillers , such as OxyContin or the many other brand and generic versions that also became bestsellers, do nothing to alleviate the underlying cause of the pain, says Dr John Loeser,an APS member, also at the University of Washington.

    “In the chronic pain world everything is [about] function, so it doesn’t matter what the person says, it matters what the person is capable of doing. With opioids you can usually make people say they feel better, but they’re not functionally better.

    “We always knew this,” Loeser continues, “but in the 1990s, drug companies came up with patentable opioids, and physicians, who get almost no education about pain in medical school, fell for the marketing.”

    Many physiciansabandoned long-held cautions around opioids.

    When the APS president, James Campbell, recommended in his 1996 address to the society using a numeric scale for patients to tell doctors how much pain they were in it was intended for use in hospitals. But the recommendation leached out to America’s primary care physicians.

    In 2000, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, a not-for-profit healthcare accreditation body, followed by the Veterans Health Administration, picked up the trend, asserting that physicians must respect patient self-reporting of pain, which routinely came to mean a prescription for a narcotic painkiller.

    According to a study in the Harvard Law & Policy Review: “Purdue Pharma successfully contributed to and capitalized on the medical establishment’s changing view of pain management.”

    But in 2016, the Joint Commission reversed its position, stating it “does not endorse pain as a vital sign”. In November 2017 four West Virginia cities filed a class-action lawsuit against the commission, alleging that it issued pain management standards in 2001 that downplayed the dangers of opioids.

    “The concern back in the mid-90s was underdiagnosis and undertreatment of pain, and the Joint Commission really made a campaign out of it … and the healthcare profession adopted the mantra,” says Roger Fillingim, director of the pain research center at the University of Florida and a past APS president.

    And it was lucrative for doctors, as well as corporations. In a Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine essay in 2016, editor Brian Mandell reported: “Step forward in time, and pain control has become a measure of patient satisfaction, and … can be linked to reimbursement.” 
    

    Simply put, a pain-free patient is a satisfied customer who is more likely to choose that doctor again. Opioids effectively became a marketing tool for a doctor to win the custom of the mighty American consumer.

    Americans do not suffer more pain than other nationalities. But they consume prescription opioids at a greater rate than any other population, according to research published in the Washington Post.

    And the very American combination of a world-leading, profit-driven pharmaceutical business, a domineering health insurance industry and a finely tuned consumer culture created the perfect storm.

    One of the shifts now taking place, Fillingim believes, is from the rights of the individual patient to what’s best for society, which, in the face of a national opioid crisis, are no longer synonymous.

    “There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” Fillingim says.

    But the difficulty with transitioning from treating pain with opioids to a multi-disciplinary approach, involving costly and slower-acting, non-pharmaceutical therapies, is that no one wants to pay for it, says the APS’s Williams.

    So what about that 1996 APS recommendation? “There was a misunderstanding about what pain levels are used for,” says Williams. “Pain levels are used to monitor for intervention and an improvement in function, they’re not absolute thresholds for throwing drugs at patients. There’s a need to assess pain but how you treat it is the issue.”

    And, 22 years on, what does the APS’s Loeser see now when he looks out across an America suffering the pain of addiction and death?

    “A disaster with no end in sight,” he said.

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11. Purdue Pharma names head of corporate social responsibility as CT lawsuit advances

    Mar 29, 2018 | Westfair Online (CT)

    By Kevin Zimmerman

    On the same day a lawsuit filed by 18 Connecticut municipalities   – including several in Fairfield County – against Purdue Pharma was to be heard by a Superior Court judge in Hartford, the pharmaceutical corporation announced that Lisa C. Miller was appointed head of Corporate Social Responsibility, a new position at the company.

    “Corporate social responsibility has become an increased priority for Purdue as we continue to address the opioid crisis through new partnerships and initiatives as well as ongoing strategic alliances,” said Purdue Pharma President and CEO Craig Landau. “Our commitment to devote even greater resources to this area closely follows our recent decision to discontinue sales representatives’ promotion of opioids to prescribers and speaker programs associated with our opioid products.”

    Miller will lead the company’s efforts to formalize and implement a cross-functional CSR practice, and work to advance Purdue’s ongoing efforts to address the opioid crisis beyond prevention and harm reduction into the areas of treatment and recovery support.

    She will also manage programs currently underway, including:Providing the National Sheriffs’ Association with support to enable front-line officers to use the rescue drug naloxone.Participating in the Prescription Drug Safety Network and supporting efforts to bring prevention education created by EVERFI to high school students across the US.Partnering with the Commonwealth of Virginia to enhance its Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) to help integrate the use of its data into the regular workflow of doctors and nurses.Supporting Project Lazarus and Safe Kids North Carolina to enhance state-wide medicine disposal activities and conduct systematic research to evaluate the impact of community-based prevention programs on opioid-related overdoses, abuse, and diversion.

    Miller, who most recently was executive director, risk management and mitigation, will also spearhead new programs that support the company’s commitment to health care professionals and patients. She will oversee ongoing CSR efforts related to conservation, sustainability, and environmental stewardship as well as supporting continued Purdue employee volunteerism and engagement in the communities where they work and live.

    She will be based at Purdue’s Stamford headquarters and will report to Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications Josie Martin.

    Meanwhile, Bridgeport, Fairfield, and Newtown are among the complainants in a lawsuit against Purdue, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Endo Health Solutions Inc. Today’s action in Superior Court will focus on setting a pretrial schedule for the lawsuit, which includes claims of violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, public nuisance, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and innocent misrepresentation.

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12. House panel to hold last opioid hearing before producing final legislation

    Mar 29, 2018 | The Hill

    By Rachel Roubein

    The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced it will hold its last legislative hearing on opioids on April 11, as the panel pushes to have a package to the House floor by Memorial Day weekend.

    Lawmakers will consider more than a dozen bills focusing on coverage and payment issues as they work to craft legislation aimed at combating the opioid epidemic that’s shown no signs of abating.

    The full list of bills hasn’t yet been released, but a GOP committee spokesperson detailed some of the concepts and discussion drafts that will be discussed, which Stat first reported.

    This includes requiring Medicaid to integrate prescription drug monitoring programs that keep tabs on prescriptions into their providers’ and pharmacists’ clinical workflow. This would let providers check the database before a patient is prescribed or dispensed a prescription painkiller.

    Additionally, the committee aims to ensure all states have a program that sets a limit on the number of doctors and pharmacies that can give out opioids to those Medicaid beneficiaries at risk of or who have an addiction.

    The panel will also examine modifications to Medicare that could better communication between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, plans, providers and beneficiaries.

    Lawmakers on the other side of the Capitol are also working to hammer out ways to combat the opioid epidemic.

    A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation in late February billed as a follow up to the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act passed in 2016, dubbed “CARA 2.0.” The Senate Health Committee has held six bipartisan hearings on the opioid epidemic with the aim of marking up legislation this spring.

    The rate of opioid involved overdose deaths increased nearly 28 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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13. Trump wants to reduce opioid prescriptions by one-third. We can start now

    Mar 30, 2018 | STAT News

    By Richard J. Barty & Maureen V. Hill

    President Trump’s recent call to reduce opioid prescriptions by one-third over the next three years may seem like a daunting task, even unrealistic. But it’s possible to do right now — without a lot of fanfare, new regulatory rules, or torturous legislation.

    The solution lies with surgeons like us. Until now, we have not really had any data to guide us when deciding how much of an opioid painkiller to prescribe when patients are discharged from the hospital after major surgery. And many with substance use disorder admit that they initially became dependent on opioids through prescriptions following medical procedures.

    Research we conducted and published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows how surgeons can determine an appropriate prescription. We found that many patients use less than one-third of the opioids prescribed to them, allowing unused medications to sit in a bathroom cabinet or be diverted or stolen for illicit use.

    Deaths from opioid overdoses have more than quadrupled in the past 15 years, to at least 42,000 per year, and are now the leading cause of injury-related mortality in the United States. An important contributor to this problem is the quadruplingof the number of opioids prescribed during this same time.

    Our study evaluated 333 hospital inpatients discharged home after six different types of general surgery operations: bariatric procedures; operations on the stomach, liver, pancreas, and colon; and ventral hernia repair.

    The most important finding from the 90 percent of survey respondents was that the number of opioid pills taken the day prior to discharge was the best predictor of the number used at home by patients. This allowed us to formulate a simple guideline for discharge opioid prescribing that would satisfy at least 85 percent of patients’ home opioid needs. If no opioids were used the day prior to discharge, none should be prescribed; if one to three opioid pills were used the day prior to discharge, 15 pills should be prescribed for five days of pain relief; and if more than four pills were used the day prior to discharge, 30 pills should be prescribed.

    This guideline would apply to a variety of different surgical procedures. We found that the type of surgery patients had did not affect the number of pills they used at home. If we used this guideline instead of our standard opioid prescribing, the number of opioid pills prescribed would decrease by 40 percent.

    We know that surgeons will change their practice when shown good data. In previous studies of opioid prescribing after outpatient general surgical operations, we found out how many opioid pills patients needed after surgery and used that to formulate prescription guidelines. By simply educating the surgeons in our group at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, we were able to cut opioid prescribing by general surgeons by more than half and still take care of patients’ pain.

    There is no need to politicize or endlessly legislate this simple process that could have a meaningful impact on the opioid epidemic. We in the medical community can take action today.

    Richard J. Barth is chief of general surgery and Maureen V. Hill is chief resident of general surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.

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14. NY budget talks: Opioid tax, Manhattan taxi surcharge

    Mar 29, 2018 | Associated Press

    By David Klepper

    New York lawmakers inched closer to a deal on a new state budget Thursday that includes a tax on opioid manufacturers, surcharges on taxi and Uber rides in Manhattan and a new, uniform sexual harassment policy for government workers.

    Other measures to authorize early voting, bail out a struggling upstate casino and extend the statute of limitations on child molestation were falling away as Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and top legislators worked to secure an agreement before a new state fiscal year dawns on Sunday.

    The details could still change, as no final budget deal was in place late Thursday night. Legislators said they still hoped to pass a complete spending plan Friday, in time for lawmakers and staff to be home for the Jewish Passover, which begins Friday at sunset, or Christian Easter on Sunday.

    If no agreement emerges Friday, the Legislature could pass short-term extensions of the current budget to buy time until lawmakers return to Albany. They're currently scheduled to go on break for two weeks beginning Monday.

    "We're getting close," said the Senate's Deputy Majority Leader, Republican John DeFrancisco of Syracuse.

    Here's a look at several high-profile initiatives that could be included in the final budget:

    NYC TOLLS: A proposal to impose tolls of $11 or more on motorists driving into the heart of Manhattan appears to be failing, though a more modest plan for smaller surcharges on taxis and Uber rides is gaining momentum. Under the proposal, surcharges of $2.50 would be levied on cab rides south of 96th Street. Trips with Uber, Lyft or other ride-hailing services in the same zone would be assessed a $2.75 surcharge. Supporters see the surcharges as just the first phase of a plan to roll out new congestion tolls on private vehicles in future years.

    OPIOID TAX: Cuomo's call for a 2-cent-per-milligram tax on opioid manufacturers has raised concerns with Republicans, who say they worry the tax will be passed on to consumers, or that it won't be dedicated to efforts to combat addiction as Cuomo has said. Last minute negotiations were focused on possible changes that could win GOP support.

    SEXUAL HARASSMENT: The Senate, Assembly and Cuomo have all advanced plans to create a uniform sexual harassment policy for state workers and officials. The legislation emerged following national attention on sexual misconduct in the workplace, and some form of new policy is expected to pass.

    TAX CHANGES: Lawmakers say the budget is likely to include some version of Cuomo's ideas for easing the burden of the new federal tax code, which raises tax liabilities for many New Yorkers by capping a deduction for state and local taxes. Cuomo wants to offer tax credits to individuals who make charitable contributions to public education or health care programs. He's also proposed an optional pilot program allowing companies to pay a payroll tax in lieu of their employees' income taxes. Salaries would be adjusted accordingly.

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Northeast (PA, MA, ME, CT)

15. Wilkes-Barre Suing Drug Companies Over Opioid Crisis

    Mar 30, 2018 | WNEP (PA)

    By Carolyn Blackburne

    The city of Wilkes-Barre says its had enough of drug companies dumping millions of dollars worth of opiates into our community and now it's taking a stand.

    City officials filed a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuit against five of the biggest drug manufacturers in the country and three of the largest whole drug distributors.

    Mayor Tony George says the opioid crisis has overwhelmed the city's ability to care for the health, safety, and welfare of its residents. According to George, this epidemic didn't happen by accident.

    The mayor says these drug makers didn't warn doctors about how addictive opiates can be for patients, and distributors didn't do their legal job to monitor and report any suspicious activity.

    The city says it has hired expert law firms to deal with this suit as it moves forward.

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16. City joins opioid lawsuit

    Mar 30, 2018 | The Citizens Voice (PA)

    By Steve Mocarsky

    The city will join other government agencies across the nation in suing drug manufacturers and wholesale distributors that officials claim are responsible for making the opioid epidemic possible by “dumping millions of dollars’ worth of prescription opioids” into the community.

    According to a news release from Mayor Tony George’s office, the city is filing a lawsuit against five of the largest manufacturers of prescription opioids and their related companies, and against the country’s three largest wholesale drug distributors, claiming a racketeering conspiracy by the companies.

    “We are taking this action today because the costs of this crisis have overwhelmed our ability to provide for the health, safety and welfare of our residents,” George said in the release.

    George said the opioid epidemic was no accident.

    “Rather, it is the result of drug makers who fail to safely and responsibly market their opioid products to doctors and patients in our city, and by wholesale distributors who breach their legal duty to monitor, identify and report suspicious activity in the size and frequency of opioid shipments to pharmacies and hospitals,” he said.

    The city will claim in the suit that the manufacturing companies “pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids, while falsely representing to doctors that patients would only rarely succumb to drug addiction.”

    It will also claim that the distributors “breached their legal duties to monitor, detect, investigate, refuse and report suspicious orders of prescription opioids,” the city said.

    The drug manufacturers named as defendants in the lawsuit include:

    • Perdue Pharma, which sold OxyContin, MS Contin, Dilaudid, Butrans, Hysingla and Targiniq.

    • Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and its subsidiary Cephalon, which sold Actiq and Fentora.

    • Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which sold Duragesic and Nucynta.

    • Endo Health Solutions, which sold Opana, Percodan, Percocet and Zydone.

    • Allergan, Activis and Watson Pharmaceuticals, which sold Kadian, Norco, and generic versions of several opioids.

    The wholesale drug distributors listed as defendants in the lawsuit include McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Drug.

    Because prescription opioids are a highly addictive substance, Congress in 1970 designed a system to control the volume of opioid pills being distributed in this country, the city noted.

    “It let only a select few wholesalers gain the right to deliver opioids. In exchange, those companies agreed to do a very important job – halt suspicious orders and control against the diversion of these dangerous drugs to illegitimate uses. But in recent years they failed to do that and today the City of Wilkes-Barre is paying the price,” the city said.

    Edward Ciarimboli, whose firm Fellerman & Ciarimboli is also representing Luzerne, Lackawanna and Columbia counties in similar suits, said Wilkes-Barre’s lawsuit will be filed within the next 30 days.

    It will be transferred from U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania’s Middle District to an Ohio district court for consolidation with similar lawsuits.

    Ciarimboli said the consolidation is similar to a class-action lawsuit, but different in that each government agency has suffered different damages.

    He said the city will seek past monetary damages as well “damages in the future to combat the opioid epidemic within the City of Wilkes-Barre,” as well as punitive damages that could inflate any possible monetary award.

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17. Wilkes-Barre announces lawsuit against opioid makers, distributors

    Mar 29, 2018 | Times Leader (PA)

    By Michael Reich

    Following the lead of Luzerne County and other cities and counties nationwide, Wilkes-Barre announced Thursday it is suing five of the largest manufacturers of prescription opioids and their related firms plus three of the largest wholesale drug distributors.

    The city, as in other lawsuits stemming from the opioid crisis, is alleging drug companies pushed physicians to prescribe opioids while denying their highly addictive nature. The distributors, meanwhile, allegedly failed to monitor, refuse, or report suspicious orders for opioids — which they are required to do under federal law.

    “We are taking this action today because the costs of this crisis have overwhelmed our ability to provide for the health, safety and welfare of our residents,” said Mayor Tony George in a statement.

    The opioid crisis helped lead to 155 overdose deaths in the county in 2017, the third consecutive year for a new record high. District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said this week that many heroin buyers are buying a form of the drug mixed with fentanyl, an opioid up to 100 times more powerful than morphine.

    These drug manufacturers are listed in the city’s lawsuit:

    • Purdue Pharma, which makes painkiller OxyContin

    • Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and its subsidiary Cephalon

    • Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals

    • Endo Health Solutions, which makes Percocet and other drugs

    • Allergan, Activis and Watson Pharmaceuticals, which sold generic versions of several opioids

    The distributors being sued are the McKesson Corp., of San Francisco; Cardinal Health, of Ohio; and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp., which is headquartered near Philadelphia.

    The city says it is “working with a consortium of law firms” — including several local ones — as part of its legal battle.

    A few weeks ago, the U.S. Justice Department announced it would back hundreds of the opioid-related lawsuits via a “statement of interest.”

    That court filing would outline the damaging effects of the crisis on the federal government, according to NBC News.

    The same report speculates the lawsuits could eventually lead to a financial settlement, similar to the one tobacco companies paid to states 20 years ago.

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18. Eastham Town News; Town joins opioid litigation

    Mar 30, 2018 | Wicked Local Eastham (MA)

    By Staff

    The board of selectmen voted last week to join the Massachusetts Opioid Litigation Attorneys (MOLA) in suing pharmaceutical companies to recover municipal costs that have been incurred as a result of the opioid crisis.

    Attorney John Giorgio said MOLA is bringing lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies on behalf of cities and towns in Massachusetts to hold them accountable for the opioid crisis. So far Provincetown, Truro, Sandwich, and Nantucket have joined MOLA in their litigation. Giorgio said that other towns on the Cape are currently looking into joining as well.

    There is no expense to the town – MOLA fronts the litigation cost. If there is a settlement or judgment, MOLA collects 25 percent of the settlement and the rest goes to the town.

    Selectmen voted 4-0 to join in on the efforts. Chief of Police Edward Kulhawik said he was very interested and that assistance is needed for people dealing with this crisis. The money from settlements could be used to fund non-profits that deal with substance abuse. The chief said he would determine the town’s opioid costs.

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19. Harwich Town News: Fee waiver denied, opioid lawsuit

    Mar 30, 2018 | Wicked Local Harwich (MA)

    By Staff

    The selectmen were presented Monday with a request from a resident for a $315 board of appeals fee waiver related to her complaints about lighting levels at the Fontaine Medical Center.

    The abutting resident, Julia Quinn of 19 Mill Pond Road, has been pursuing the matter for two years with the appeals board and the building commissioner, Town Administrator Chris Clark said.

    Calling Quinn an “aggrieved abutter,” Clark said, “This is an act of litigation, asking us to engage in something against ourselves.” He said the town officials looked into the matter and the appeals board set the original conditions. Her argument is that the conditions haven’t been met and she feels the lighting is outside of its jurisdiction, he said.

    Building Commissioner Ray Chesley responded to Quinn with a letter showing testing and inspections by Down Cape Engineering saying “as-built levels conform to the planning board site plan special permit along with ‘no light spill-off over property line.’”

    He also noted that Fontaine Center voluntarily agreed to take additional steps to minimize the lighting impact on the neighborhood, including plantings and changing some fixtures for additional shielding.

    In her letter to the selectmen, Quin called Chesley’s determinations ambiguous.

    Selectmen referred the matter back to the town administrator.

    Article revised

    The board of selectmen approved a wording change Monday to the town meeting warrant article on the construction of landside improvements at Saquatucket Harbor to clarify its intent after the town received an additional $1 million state grant for the project.

    The board accepted the grant with the intent that the money be added to the original $3 million approved last year. That amount did not include a snack shack and related septic and parking lot improvements, which were in the original plans, but were cost prohibitive.

    Town Administrator Chris Clark said he changed the article wording to say the grant money would be expended in addition to the appropriation of $3 million. The extra funds would bring the total program cost close to $3.8 million, most of it for the snack shack, he said.

    A yes vote by the voters would authorize spending the $4 million and a no vote would leave the $3 million appropriation with no snack shack and scaled down version of the original plan, Clark said. The selectmen approved the change Monday.

    Sewer meeting

    A second meeting for East Harwich residents has been scheduled for April 19 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Harwich Community Center. The purpose is to inform the residents who will be affected by the new sewer system to be installed under Phase II of the town’s comprehensive wastewater management plan.

    Vacancy

    The town conservation commission is “in dire need of members,” Selectmen Chairman Michael MacAskill said Monday night after the selectmen accepted another resignation from the commission.

    The terms are for three years and the meetings are on the first and third Thursday of the month in the evening. Residents interested in serving on the commission may contact Conservation Administrator Amy Usowski at 508-430-7538 or email ausowski@town.Hariwch.ma.us.

    Opioid suit

    Harwich Town Counsel John Giorgio asked the Board of Selectmen Monday to join a consortium of local and national law firms in pursuing litigation to help recover monetary damages to municipalities from pharmaceutical companies for their role in the opioid epidemic.

    Giorgio was making the request on behalf of his law firm, KP Law, which has joined the consortium called the Massachusetts Opioid Litigation Attorneys (MOLA).

    The tort litigation would be filed against the primary responsible parties, which include pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, is not a class action but will instead be separately filed to pursue the specific interests of each municipality.

    The legal actions would be in two stages, Giorgio said, first, to establish liability and then, actual damages. “We have looked at it carefully. There are a lot of costs the town has endured from opioids and responding to overdoses,” which he said could include ambulance runs, Narcan, domestic abuse, social services and others.

    Giorgio said would be no cost to the town, as the attorneys will front all costs and will only be reimbursed if successful in the litigation. He said the towns would probably want to create a dedicated fund for those purposes.

    Several other Cape towns, including Provincetown, Truro and Eastham, have signed on to the partnership and others are considering doing so, Giorgio said. However, the selectmen had several questions about the proposal.

    Selectmen Chairman Michael MacAskill asked why the doctors were not being the target of the lawsuits. Giorgio said the litigation was looking at the source of the opioids, the pharmaceutical companies, and said the doctors did not have the “deepest pockets.” MacAskill also wanted to know how the town would come up with the actual costs.

    Selectman Julie Kavanagh agreed that the pharmaceutical companies were responsible as they provide incentives for use of the drugs.

    Selectman Don Howell wanted to know why the states’ attorney generals were not pursuing such litigation and why the Massachusetts attorney general has been reluctant to do it.

    Giorgio said, “We have yet to see what the state is going to do.”

    Howell was also concerned about how the source of the drugs, whether legal or illegal, could be determined. Town Administrator Chris Clark said he also questioned how the town would prove the damages.

    The consortium includes multiple national law firms and three state firms with extensive mass tort litigation experience and understanding of municipal law: Sweeney, Merrigan Law, Rodman, Rodman & Sandman and KP Law. Giorgio stressed the skills of the attorneys involved and offered to arrange a meeting with the attorneys.

    The board did not act Monday because only three members were present and Selectmen Larry Ballantine and Jannell Brown will be asked to watch the video before taking action.

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20. Rockland may join class action lawsuit against opioid pushers

    Mar 30, 2018 | Villagesoup (ME)

    By Stephen Betts

    The Rockland City Council will decide next month whether to join a national class-action lawsuit against opioid manufacturers for pushing their drugs and causing an epidemic of drug addiction.

    Councilor Amelia Magjik is sponsoring the order to authorize the city manager to contract with an attorney to have Rockland join the class action suit.

    Magjik said any money received by Rockland could be used to compensate the community for the expenses incurred in dealing with the drug crisis created, in part, by opioid manufacturers and distributors. These costs include added emergency medical services and police calls.

    Money also could be used for outreach efforts in the community.

    The order states that opioid manufacturers and distributors "knowingly made and distributed quantities of prescription opioids far beyond amounts that were medically necessary, leading to an epidemic of addiction and death that has placed a huge financial strain on local governments around the country."

    The council is scheduled to vote on the measure at its April 9 meeting.

    Auburn, Bangor, Biddeford, Lewiston, Portland, Waterville, and Kennebec County are among the government entities in Maine that have already joined in the class action suit.

    The claims by these and other communities across the country is that the drug companies misled physicians about the addictive powers of the prescription drugs. People who became addicted to these drugs would later turn to heroin or other illegal opioids.

    The Maine Attorney General's Office reported that 418 people in Maine died from drug overdoses in 2017, up from 376 in 2016.

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21. Newtown and Allies' Lawsuit Vs. Opioid Makers Has Day in Court

    Mar 29, 2018 | Newtown Patch

    By Rich Kirby

    Newtown and 17 other municipalities which allied themselves against several large pharmaceutical companies over the opioid abuse crisis are having their day in court.

    The plaintiffs filed their lawsuit on January 9 of this year. Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceutical USA are among the defendants listed in the suit.

    Among the allegations in the suit is that, "By virtue of their deceptive and fraudulent marketing campaign, defendants have given rise to a drug epidemic the likes of which the Connecticut municipalities, the state of Connecticut, and the nation have never before seen, resulting in substantial economic harm to plaintiffs."

    A judge will hear from the various lawyers arrayed on both sides of the case today.

    Connecticut has seen an extraordinary rise in drug overdoses from the abuse of opioids.

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Midwest (WI, OH, MI)

22. Washington County Commissioners asked to join opioid lawsuits

    Mar 29, 2018 | WTAP (OH)

    By Todd Baucher

    Wood County governments recently signed on to join lawsuits related to the opioid epidemic.

    Thursday, Washington County heard from attorneys involved in one of those suits.

    They explained the suits would name opioid manufacturers, but would not include retailers such as pharmacies.

    The representatives of an Ohio firm noted Washington County ranks 20th among Ohio counties where opioid abuse is considered a problem.

    "But it doesn't take into effect how the opiates are coming in from other areas," attorney Robert Miller added. "For example, Lawrence County, Ohio going into Kentucky. And that's only from the Ohio Department of Health, that's not from the other states as well."

    The commission made no decisions on hiring a firm.

    Members have not yet considered whether they want to join a multi-district lawsuit.

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23. Vilas County joins nationwide opioid lawsuit

    Mar 30, 2018 | Lakeland Times (WI)

    By Brian Jopek

    It's taken some time and discussion at primarily committee level but the Vilas County board voted Tuesday to have the county join in ongoing litigation against large pharmaceutical companies which manufacture drugs - opioids - such as oxycodone.

    The possibility of joining the lawsuit was brought up by Vilas County corporation counsel Jack Abbot at the county board's November meeting after it had been approached directly in response to doing something about the problem in the county with the abuse of opioids produced by the pharmaceutical companies. 
    
    In January, the county board's executive and legislative committee, voted 5-1 against sending a resolution to the county board to join the suit. 
    
    Committee member Walt Maciag said at that meeting he had a had a difficult time supporting the resolution as written, citing what he said was a "lack of specificity."
    
    "It (the resolution and lawsuit) charges, or alleges, that certain pharmaceutical companies, which are not named ... I don't know who these people are, OK?" Maciag said. "Secondly, it says they have engaged in unlawful and unethical behavior. But it doesn't say what that unlawful or unethical behavior is."
    
    He said the only thing he saw that was specific in the resolution is the name of a couple of law firms "that want to handle the case without identification of what the fee is."
    
    "Until there is more specification so I can make a reasonable judgement, I can't really support this thing," Maciag said.
    
    On the other hand, the social services committee, with a 2-1 margin, recently voted to send the resolution to the board and it ended up on Tuesday's meeting agenda. 
    
    
    
    Entire system changed
    
    Krista Baisch, an attorney with the Milwaukee-based law firm of Crueger Dickinson, appeared via Skype call from California to give the 18 members of the county board some background on the history of the litigation, which she said dates back to 2006.
    
    It was something, that, Baisch said, was going to take quite some time. 
    
    She said with regard to any monetary figure in a potential settlement can't be made public at this time but she assured the county board there would be no cost to Vilas County to join the lawsuit. 
    
    In Wisconsin, Baisch said her firm represented 65 of the state's 72 counties involved "in the national opioid litigation." 
    
    "There are currently well over 600 opioid cases throughout the nation," she said. "Our team, our larger legal team, has somewhere around 200 of those cases. So, this is a national effort and I am here to tell you where we come from and where we're at right now and where this is going."
    
    Baisch said it has become very clear "that the opioid epidemic that we are currently seeing throughout the nation was caused, not only in part, but experts throughout the nation believe solely was caused by the conduct of the opioid manufacturers when they were in a marketing meeting in the 1990s and decided they were going to change 150 years of well-accepted medical science."
    
    In order to sell more opioids, she said, the companies were going to target physicians and convince them opioids were safe and non-addictive.
    
    "They could be used for long-term chronic uses, like back pain or migraines," Baisch said. "Or things as simple as toothaches."
    
    Before that, she said opioids were common in situations such as end of life care or in cancer patients "or situations where you may have a surgery and you would receive a small prescription of opioids."
    
    "Maybe 10 of them for a period after surgery," Baisch said. "That entire system changed." 
    
    She later in her talk said one of the goals of the lawsuit wasn't just to get a settlement - she clarified during the course of her presentation the counties involved in the lawsuit would receive money from whatever settlement is eventually reached to put toward programs designed to help people - but to change that way of doing things back to, essentially, what those opioids had originally been prescribed for. 
    
    Baisch answered, or attempted to answer, questions from supervisors.
    
    
    
    The Indian nations
    
    Supervisor Kim Simac, who eventually voted against joining the lawsuit, expressed concern about people using opioids legitimately and lawfully being penalized while supervisor Holly Tomlanovich, voted against the resolution in the social services meeting and would join Simac in voting against the county joining, said she felt the parameters of the lawsuit "were very narrow."
    
    "It is just basically naming big pharma," she said. "Why not the FDA? Why not the distributors that are subcontractors of the manufacturers? Why not insurance companies who will not cover claims ... they'll cover claims for opioids but won't cover claims for alternative forms of treatment. And lastly, the doctors."
    
    She said she had no direct personal experience with the opioid situation herself but "had seen it in action."
    
    "A doctor can easily determine when an individual is being over-prescribed to," Tomlanovich said.
    
    Baisch replied seven different distributors and at least two national pharmacy chains are involved. 
    
    Maciag, another ultimate no vote, wanted to know how things would be fixed in the aftermath of the lawsuit - whenever it's decided - and mentioned the influx of illegal drugs such as heroine not produced by the pharmaceutical companies, coming into the United States from countries like China. 
    
    Supervisor Tom Maulson, representing Lac du Flambeau, said he wanted to know "where the Indian nations stand in this lawsuit."
    
    He said in the large lawsuits against tobacco companies over the years, the tribes had not been thought of.
    
    "I guess ... I really don't know," Maulson said. "What is this county or any county gonna do to help Indian nations because we have the biggest drug problem in the area? We had a young guy OD here yesterday. A young lad, 21 years old and I'm tired of seeing our people die."
    
    "The Indians are part of the effort," Baisch said and Abbot suggested the tribe contact Baisch's law firm to make sure it was included - or actually invited, as the county had been - but he felt because the Lac du Flambeau area was part of Vilas County, it would be included. 
    
    After approximately 90 minutes, technical difficulties with the Skype feed Baisch was on prohibited further participation by her in the discussion and county board chairman Ron DeBruyne quickly called the question, which needed a simple majority vote. 
    
    It was close at 10 yes to eight no with those joining Maciag, Tomlanovich and Simac in voting no were supervisors Steve Doyen, Art Kunde, Ron Kressin, Dan Swiechowski and Jay Verhulst.
    

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24. Another law firm wants county to join opioid suit

    Mar 30, 2018 | WTVB (MI)

    By Ken Delaney

    As the Branch County Board of Commissioners considers joining ongoing litigation in the national opioid crisis, they heard a second presentation during their work session Thursday from a representative of a Detroit law firm.

    A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of several Michigan cities and counties against 21 drug companies, distributors and pharmacies in an attempt get back the expenses involved.

    Lisa Esser from the firm of Sommers and Schwartz said they are part of a national consortium. She said over 337,000 pills were distributed in Branch County during the first quarter of 2015

    She also pointed out 519 pounds of prescription pills have been collected by the Branch County Sheriff’s Department during the past year. It’s not known how many of those pills were opioids but Esser said there were 268 opioid overdoses in Branch County between 2013 and 2016.

    She pointed out Narcan administrations is a cost that could be recouped as part of the litigation.

    The Healthcare Distribution Alliance has responded to the litigation. Senior Vice President John Parker recently said “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. Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation.”

    Commissioners plan to hear at least one more presentation before making a decision on whether or not the county will be part of the legal action.

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Southeast (GA, MS)

25. Organization speaks out on Cook. Co. opioid lawsuit

    Mar 30, 2018 | WALB (GA)

    By Damond Arnold

    One South Georgia organization is speaking out in favor of the class action lawsuit filed by Cook County this month against several major pharmaceutical companies they believe played a role in the opioid epidemic.

    Open Door Christian Home works with men who struggle with drug addiction in Adel.  

    They are hopeful this lawsuit will open the eyes of these companies.

    "I really do think its a money making machine that's gotten out of control."

    Cook County is just one of several counties to join in the class action lawsuit against over a dozen pharmaceutical companies and distributors that have played a part in the opioid crisis sweeping the nation.

    Tim Merton, the director of Open Door Christian Home Rehabilitation facility, says he supports their decision.

    "I believe that they're on track with suing some of these big pharmaceutical manufacturers," said Merton.

    The lawsuit calls for defendants to compensate Cook County for costs incurred by the opioid epidemic, such as medical care, counseling and law-enforcement costs, as well as attorney's fees and court costs.

    "Most of our clients are because of opioid addiction which generally will lead to opiate addiction, which is heroin and some of the heavier drugs," said Merton.

    Open Door is a faith-based, live-in organization that houses up to 17 men at a time, helping them maintain sobriety through a 12-step program after a 28-day inpatient program. They attend church regularly and help them find jobs.

    "I think in the future if there's more accountability, stricter laws, there possibly won't be as much addiction," said Merton.

    Merton said he seeing the opioid crisis shifting to a younger age group.

    "When kids get hurt playing sports and that kind of thing, they're prescribing them painkillers, the opioids, at young ages and they're getting addicted 12,13,14 years old," said Merton.

    Mertons says pay attention to people you care about, as this impacts everyone.

    "Everybody knows a family member a friend, somebody, but the stigma of it causes people to keep it as well hidden as they possibly can until it becomes obvious that their life is out of control," said Merton.

    WALB News 10 reached out to Cook County's attorney to see where they stand at this time in the lawsuit, but have not heard back.

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26. Woodstock Joins Opioid Class Action Lawsuit

    Mar 29, 2018 | Woodstock Patch (GA)

    By Kristal Dixon

    The city of Woodstock has signed on to join a class action lawsuit against drug manufacturers they say have marketed the use of highly-addictive narcotics that has led to an astonishing rise in opioid use and overdoses around the state and country.

    The Council approved a contract and resolution authorizing its plans to enter the class action suit. The March 26 unanimous vote came after city leaders voted about two weeks ago to move forward with plans to be added to the suit.

    In its resolution, Woodstock lays out the following information as the basis for its decision:

    91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose, with more than 15,000 deaths involving prescription opioids alone in 2015;

    17.7 percent of Georgia high school students reported taking prescription painkillers without a doctor's prescription, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;

    Between 2014 and 2015 Georgia had a 64-percent increase in deaths by synthetic opioids (tramadol and fentanyl) and a 37.5-percent increase in heroin deaths;

    In 2006 opioid drug overdose death were 31.5 percent of all overdose deaths, and in 2015, they accounted for 68.8 percent of overdose deaths in Georgia;

    Local, state and federal governments have born substantial financial and societal burden related to this crisis and epidemic and will incur costs for this nuisance for years to come into the foreseeable future; and

    
    

    Certain manufacturers and distributors knowing of the serious risks and adverse outcomes related to the use of their products, including their highly addictive nature, nevertheless did purposefully set out to persuade providers, regulators and patients that their products were safe and effective.

    Woodstock inked its agreement with Brinson, Askew, Berry, Seigler, Richardson & Davis LLP, a Rome-based law firm. Other northwest Georgia government represented by the firm include the cities of Cartersville, Rome and Chattooga, Floyd and Whitfield counties. 

    Other cities around metro Atlanta have also taken similar action. In early March, the city of Sandy Springs directed its attorney to join a lawsuit directed at these companies. The lawsuits, City Attorney Dan Lee told Sandy Springs leaders, would allow local jurisdictions and public safety officials to recoup the costs they are not reimbursed for when caring for anyone who overdoses on these drugs.

    Woodstock's decision comes weeks after a well-known forensic pathologist was indicted by federal prosecutors in an elaborate opioid distribution ring. Dr. Joseph L. Burton, 76, of Milton, who served as a medical examiner for Cobb, Gwinnett and Paulding counties, allegedly wrote 1,100 prescription for painkillers in return for sexual favors.

    The feds note those prescriptions amounted to more than 108,000 individual doses, including more than 66,000 oxycodone pills. Burton would often write prescription without thoroughly examining or, at times, without meeting patients, the indictment charged.

    Burton also prescribed drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone "irrespective of any legitimate medical purpose and outside the normal course of professional practice in exchange for sexual favors and romantic affection," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
    

    Burton and several others were also charged with racketeering by the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad related to their north Georgia operation.

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27. Monroe County Supervisors approve for county to enter into opioid lawsuit

    Mar 30, 2018 | Monroe Daily Journal (MS)

    By Ray Van Dusen

    Monroe County is joining the list, along with several other government bodies from throughout the southeast, to seek retribution for expenses incurred from the opioid addiction epidemic.

    Mitchell, McNutt & Sams attorney Brad Dillard explained to the board of supervisors March 23 there are very little downsides but several upsides in taking part.

    “There are a number of counties and cities in Mississippi and other states filing suit against manufacturers and distributors of opioid medication, primarily oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl,” Dillard said. “The theories for the cities and counties is those governments have expended monies for folks coming to hospitals and have given care to those who have been incarcerated due to drug use or treatment and recovery for that. In some senses that might be a stretch, but that’s what some people said about tobacco litigation, and we know how that ended.”

    Several such lawsuits have been filed and consolidated into one court in Ohio. If there are verdicts handed down through these cases in which people have been injured, Dillard is confident opioid companies will settle.

    According to Dillard, annual revenue of the three largest opioid distributors, which comprise 85 percent of the market, is $10 billion each.

    Monroe County’s involvement would be providing documentation on inmates and actual expenses related to opioid abuse.

    “I think the primary basis of recovery is if the distributors and manufacturers will agree to pay for treatment centers, for education and what that would likely be would be money paid to Monroe County designated for that, but the county can use it the way it wants to at the end of the day,” Dillard said.

    There’s a provision in the contract stating the defendants have the right to build a treatment center in lieu of paying a monetary settlement, but the individual boards have to approve any settlements.

    District 5 Supervisor Hosea Bogan asked where individuals affected by opioid abuse would stand directly in the lawsuit.

    “They aren’t going to get anything out of this lawsuit. If that person wants to file a claim, they have every right to hire a lawyer and make their own claim. This litigation is very narrow in that it involves cities and counties,” Dillard said. “This attorney group says cities and counties make good clients because they’re sympathetic, they’re taking care of their residents and they’re spending public funding to do this.”

    The lawsuit is being handled by six law firms, and the proposal is they would be paid a 25-percent contingency fee out of any recovery of the suit. Monroe County won’t owe any money if no money is recovered.

    “I can’t tell you if you win if you’ll get a paycheck this year or next year. These things take time,” Dillard said. “How that payment will be determined – I expect if there’s a settlement, distributors and manufacturers are going to want factors like what is the population of the county, what is the number of prescriptions per resident.”

    He said some counties in north Mississippi have upwards of 170 opioid prescriptions per 100 residents. Saying he can’t speak to the accuracy of reports he’s seen, Dillard said Tishomingo County reportedly has a rate of three prescriptions per resident. Union, Tippah, Marshall and Itawamba counties are among the list of counties already involved in this lawsuit.

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Northwest (WA)

28. Thurston County Announces Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers

    Mar 29, 2018 | The Chronicle (WA)

    By Staff

    Thurston County announced today it would join other cities and counties across the state of Washington and the state Attorney General’s Office in suing opioid drug manufacturers for the effects of the addictive drugs on its communities.

    “Opioid addiction has reached epidemic levels in Thurston County and opioid related deaths have increased dramatically over the past decade. We believe these companies directly contributed to the creation of this epidemic,” said Thurston County Prosecutor Jon Tunheim, in a press release.

    Tunheim initiated the litigation on behalf of the county, which will be represented in the suit by Seattle based law firm Keller Rohrback.

    Keller Rohrback has also filed opioid suits on behalf of King, Pierce, and Skagit counties, and the cities of Tacoma, Mount Vernon, Burlington, and Sedro-Woolley, according to a press release.

    Clark County also recently filed suit against opioid manufacturers and the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office is researching law firms it could retain in a similar suit, Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer told the Board of Lewis County Commissioners earlier this month.

    Thurston County’s lawsuit alleges that the county has “experienced significant harm” as a result of large-scale distribution of opioid prescription drugs through “deliberate and systematic practices of providing false and misleading information to doctors and patients about the safety of prescription opioid drugs over the last 20 years,” according to a press release.

    Thurston County experienced an increase in heroin use following the uptick in prescription opioid use, which has been a common trend, according to the county.

    “There’s no question the opioid crisis is a public emergency,” said Schelli Slaughter, Thurston County Public Health and Social Services Director, in a press release. “Last year, roughly half of the individuals who used our county syringe exchange reported their primary drug was heroin. We know that people from all walks of life are struggling with addiction, and that needs to be addressed not just on the streets, but at the source.”

    The lawsuit was filed in federal court for the Western District of Washington against prescription opioid manufacturers and three primary wholesale distributors of prescription opioids.

    The complaint accuses those defendants of violating the Washington Consumer Protection Act and the federal RICO statute, and argues that their conduct constitutes a public nuisance, negligence, gross negligence, and unjust enrichment under Washington law, according to the press release.

    “Thurston County is constantly looking at innovative ways to help those who are impacted by drug addiction in our community.” Tunheim said. “However, our strategy against this opioid epidemic must also include holding these companies, who have reaped substantial profits from the sale of these drugs, accountable for creating the worst human-caused epidemic in history.”

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West (UT)

29. County plans to sue opioid manufacturers for marketing lies

    Mar 29, 2018 | The Moab Times Independent (UT)

    By Rose Egelhoff

    Every month in Utah, 23 people die from prescription drug overdoses, according to the Utah Department of Health. The main culprit is opioids, a class of drugs used for pain relief that have addictive properties — and Grand County will soon involve itself in a lawsuit against manufacturers in a response to the drug abuse crisis. 

    The county will sue based on the “the fraudulent information that [pharmaceutical companies] put out regarding their product that’s had a huge impact on counties and governments and families and people,” according to Grand County Attorney Andrew Fitzgerald.
    
    “All counties in Utah are currently joining in on the class-action lawsuits to try and recover what they’ve spent ... on rehab and medical,” Fitzgerald said.
    
    Karen Dolan, the executive director of Four Corners Behavioral Health, described the opioid crisis as, “a perfect storm.”
    
    While opioids were once illegal throughout the U.S., Dolan said, in the late 1980s and early 1990s medical associations noted that doctors were not effectively treating pain. Pharmaceutical companies began advertising that patients in real pain would not get addicted to opioids, and doctors began prescribing more of them to their patients. At the same time, heroin — another opioid — became more available in the U.S. Doctors would realize that patients were addicted, cut them off and then patients would turn to heroin as an alternative, Dolan said.
    
    Dolan oversees Four Corners’ operations in Carbon, Emery and Grand counties.
    
    “Carbon and Emery have a very serious opioid problem, Grand less so,” Dolan said. “San Juan and Grand are lower compared to the rest of the state. However, it’s still a significant problem.”
    
    Will Barnhardt, assistant director of Grand County Emergency Medical Services, confirmed that the opioid crisis is not as bad in Grand County as elsewhere.
    
    “We actually don’t have many opioids here. The drugs of use we tend to see are more methamphetamines and more stimulants … off the top of my head, we’ve had one bad opioid overdose in the last year but they’re not a huge issue here like they are nationally,” Barnhardt said.
    
    The crisis has hit other areas of Utah hard. Carbon County has three times the national average of pain medication prescription rates, Dolan said. In Utah, the overdose death rate is fourth in the nation.
    
    Grand County has escaped the worst of the epidemic thanks to a couple of factors, Dolan said.
    
    “I think Carbon and Emery are on … a major interstate. Moab’s a little more out of the way,” said Dolan. “Also Carbon and Emery have a lot of blue collar people that work: Coal miners and power company workers, and they hurt their bodies. So there’s a lot of doctors that prescribe pain pills and then once the pain pill arrangement doesn’t work anymore, because they are addicted and bugging their doctors, the doctors then cut them off and they turn to heroin.”
    
    Dolan noted that good medication exists to help anyone who is struggling with addiction to opioids.
    
    “Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease just like hypertension or diabetes or many forms of cancer. It’s one disease that our society believes people should do without any medicine,” said Dolan. “With mental illness, no one would expect someone to not take an antidepressant if they’re depressed or an anti-psychotic if they’re schizophrenic because we have good medicines to treat mental illness now … with addiction, especially opiate addiction, we have some good medicines now that have come out that … although not perfect, they can really help.”
    
    Fitzgerald presented the possibility of joining a lawsuit to the county council on March 20 and the council voted unanimously to join.
    
    “I haven’t been terribly interested in the class actions because a lot of times you join a class and everyone at the top makes millions and millions and millions of dollars and ... you may get a check for 16 cents,” said Fitzgerald.
    
    However, this suit is a little bit different. Fitzgerald said the county’s approach would involve filing in local courts, “to keep more control over it and to attempt to get a better return.”
    
    The firm Durham, Jones and Pinegar from Salt Lake City would represent Grand County. The firm is also representing other counties in the state, including San Juan County, Fitzgerald told the council.
    
    Fitzgerald said the lawsuit would not cost the county anything. Instead, the law firm will take 35 percent of whatever is recovered in court, plus court costs.
    
    Any money Grand County receives will likely go back to the county’s general fund, Fitzgerald said, “but you would probably want to earmark it for money we’ve been spending on Four Corners ... treatment [or] drug court.”
    
    “I think this is a no-brainer and a really, really good thing,” said Council Vice Chair Curtis Wells.
    

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Broadcast Media Coverage

30. Good Day Arkansas

    Mar 30, 2018 | Little Rock, AR

    By KLRT (Fox)

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33918731?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

    Rough Transcript: the arkansas attorney general annoucned she's suing three opioid manufacturers. leslie rutledge says the lies of -- purdue -- johnson and johnson -- and endo-- contributed to a "public health crisis of historic proporons." she argues the companies knew their representation of opioids-- to patients and doctors-- contradicted scientific evidence. rutledge says the result-- 401 pill bottles-- representing arkansans who died from a prescription drug overdose in 2016 ((leslie rutledge/arkansas "these drug companies must pay for the pain and suffering that they have caused arkansans. they must pay for the financial burden that they have caused and continue to place on the state of arkansas and our taxpayers." ((susanne)) rutledge says the manufacturers have cost the arkansas medicaid program millions of dollars. she is also seeking to recover damages for law enforcement and state government.

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31. Daybreak on Z

    Mar 30, 2018 | Springfield, MO

    By KOZL (Fox)

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33919564?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

    Rough Transcript: arkansas attorney general is suing three pharmaceutical companies that market opioids. leslie rutledge named purdue, johnson and johnson, and endo in her complaint. she says these companies engaged in a campaign of misinformation touting the benefits of drugs like oxycodone and hydrocodone to doctors and patients. rutledge alleges the manufacturers knew the risks posed by the drugs, but downplayed them. she also says the companies worked hard to convince physicians.... addictive opioidsshould not be reserved for severe cases and could be prescribed for conditions like arthritis and back pain. leslie rutledge/arkansas attorney general "these drug companies must pay for the pain and suffering that they have caused arkansans. they must pay for the financial burden that they have caused and they continue to place on the state of arkansas and our taxpayers." lauren rutledge is suing under arkansas medicaid fraud false claims act and deceptive trade practices act.

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32. FOX 16 News at 7

    Mar 30, 2018 | Jackson, TN

    By WJKT (Fox)

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33919579?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

    Rough Transcript: local in arkansas this morning... the state's attorney general is suing three pharmaceutical companies that market opioids. the targets... purdue.. johnson- and-johnson.. and endo. attorney general leslie rutledge says the companies engaged in a campaign of misinformation.. touting the benefits of drugs like oxycodone and hydrocodone. rutledge says the companies worked hard to convince doctors that addictive opioids should not be reserved for severe cases... and could be prescribed for conditions like arthritis and back pain. leslie rutledge/arkansas attorney general: "these drug companies must pay for the pain and suffering that they have caused arkansans. they must pay for the financial burden that they have caused and they continue to place on the state of arkansas and our taxpayers." caitlin: rutledge is suing under arkansas' "medicaid fraud false claims act".. and "decepti trade practices" act.

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33. FOX23 News This Morning

    Mar 30, 2018 | Tulsa, OK

    By KOKI (Fox)

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920208?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

    Rough Transcript: arc's attorney general is suing three pharmaceutical companies that market opioids. leslie rut lemignot named purdue, johnson & johnson and endo in her campaign. alleges the companies knew the risks but downplayed them. >>> attorney general mike hunter filed a lawsuit against drug makers over the statewide opioid crisis.

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34. 40/29 News Sunrise

    Mar 30, 2018 | Ft. Smith, AR

    By KHBS (ABC)

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920596?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

    Rough Transcript: arkansas is taking the fight against opioids to a new level. 6:05 AMpaul: the state is suing drug manufactures, saying they caused opioid deaths. fatal overdoses increased in every state in one year. arkansas attorney general leslie rutledge accuses three drug companies committed medicaid fraud. >> drug company shoulds never place their desire for profits above health and well being of customers or communities where their customers live. in short, these manufacturers lied. these lies told by manufacturers resulted in arkansans purchasing and taking opioids believing they were safe. paul: the lawsuit doesn't list a specific amount, but rutledge says it could range from millions to billions. 5:05. we reached out to the companies. paul: that is right. and janssen pharmaceuticals says they list risks and benefits. it is a serious public health issue, we are committed to being part of the ongoing dialogue and doing our part to address this cris.

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35. Daybreak - Early

    Mar 30, 2018 | Little Rock, AR

    By KATV (ABC)

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920601?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

    Rough Transcript: arkansas is joing several other states in suing major drug manufacturers.... in an effort 6:04 AMto fight the opioid epidemic. channel 7's matt mershon reports that the arkansas attorney general is now saying these drug manufacturers intentionally misled arkansas doctors and arkansans about the dangers of opioids. "these drug companies must pay for the pain and suffering that they have caused arkansans." at a press conference thursday - attorney general leslie rutledge announced her office has filed a lawsuit against three major drug manufacturers - purdue pharma - endo pharmaceuticals - and johnson and johnson. the suit filed in pulaski county circuit court thursday afternoon - claims the companies violated the state's deceptive trade practices act - and medicaid fraud false claims act - alleging the companies knowingly downplayed the dangers of their drugs. "these lies told by manufacturers resulted in arkansans purchasing and taking opioids, believing that they were safe and the risk of addictions were low." no dollar amount was given as to the restitution the state is seeking - however rutledge said the cost of the opioidepidemic in arkansas has climbed into the millions and possibly billions. if the state is successful in their lawsuit - the question remains of where the money will go. governor hutchinson said the lawsuit is simply seeking dollars that have already been spent by the state in fighting the opioid epidemic so far. "so i think it's importan at this stage not to necessarily restrict what we're doing and how that will be used." matt thank you.. this is a separate lawsuit from the one filed by the association of arkansas counties last week. we did reach out to all of the companies named in the lawsuit....to see a response from janssenpharmaceuticals just click on this story on our website at k-a-t-v dot com.

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36. Good Morning Connecticut at 6 AM

    Mar 30, 2018 | Hartford & New Haven, CT

    By WCTX (MNT)

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920623?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

    Rough Transcript: city leaders in waterbury continue to fight the opioid epidemic.this- after the 10th áopioid-related fatalityá in the state of 2018 was reported earlier this week.the city of waterbury and several other communities are suing opioid manufacturers.. "they knowingly, are fully cognizant of the addiction that's brought on by prolonged use of these opioids have been ignored. big pharma has sought profits over health.""i'm her to support these towns and cities that are demanding an end to the slick promoting and marketing of these powerful painkillers that lead to addiction and abuse."ásomeá other cities that have joined the lawsuit are bridgeport, milford, west haven, and southington.

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37. Eyewitness News at 6:30am

    Mar 30, 2018 | Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, PA

    By WBRE (NBC)

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920670?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

    Rough Transcript: wilkes-barre leaders announce the city is joing the fight against "opioid production and distribution." the city is filing a lawsuit against five of the largest manufacturers of prescription opioids.. and the country's three largest wholesale drug distributors. officials want to hold companies accountable for contributing to the opioid epidemic. mayor tony george said in a statement..

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38. Channel 2 Action News at 6:00PM

    Mar 29, 2018 | Atlanta, GA

    By WSB (ABC)

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920619?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

    Rough Transcript: a city 69ed a list of local governments suing the pharmaceutical injury over the opioid epidemic. fulton county and dekalb county are part of the lawsuit among others. the lawsuit has already has hundreds of plaintiffs right to fight drug makers.

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39. ABC 27 News at Sunrise 6:30am

    Mar 30, 2018 | Tallahassee, FL

    By WTXL (ABC)

    Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33920660?token=724f6e2b-a0e6-4b5b-87d4-7b7f5267289e

    Rough Transcript: a south georgia organization is getting behind a class action lawsuit filed in cook county. the lawsuit is against several major pharmaceutical companies and their roles in the opioid cris. the lawsuit calls for defendants to compensate cook county for costs incurred by the opioid epidemic, such as medical care, counseling and law- enforcement costs, as well as attorney fees and court costs. open door christian home works with men who struggle with drug addiction in adel and says hopefully this lawsuit will open the eyes of these companies. tim merton, the director of open door christian home rehabilitation facility, says he supports the decision. ""i believe that they're o track with suing some of these big pharmaceuticalmanufactures, most of our clients are because of opioid addiction which generally will lead to opiate addiction, which is heroine and some of the heavier drugs " christine: we reached out to cook county's attorney to see where they stand at this time in the lawsuit,

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