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Opioid Litigation Daily Media Report - 4/2/18
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Pulaski County joins opioids suit but still pursues own case
Apr 1, 2018 | Arkansas Online (AR)
By Emma Pettit
Every county in Arkansas is now part of a landmark lawsuit that seeks relief from opioid manufacturers after Pulaski County, the last holdout, agreed to join the case last week. -
One state's novel idea to make Big Pharma pay for opioid epidemic
Mar 30, 2018 | CNN
By Wayne Dash
Big Pharma should pay the billions it will take to fix the opioid crisis it created in Arkansas, a first-of-its-kind lawsuit says. -
Arkansas' attorney general uses five private law firms to file opioid lawsuit
Mar 30, 2018 | Legal NewsLine
By John O'Brien
Another Republican has officially joined forces with the trial bar to sue the makers of prescription painkillers, as Arkansas’ Leslie Rutledge recently filed her anticipated lawsuit through five different private law firms. -
Houston Physician and Pain Management Clinic Owner Convicted of Running “Pill Mill” That Provided Unlawful Prescriptions for Millions of Doses of Opioids and Other Controlled Substances (Press Release)
Mar 31, 2018 | DOJ
A federal jury found a Houston physician and the owner of a pain management clinic guilty today for their roles in running a “pill mill” that provided tens of thousands of unlawful prescriptions for millions of doses of opioids and other controlled substances. -
Staying Alive: How To Fight An Opioid Addiction (Opinion)
Apr 2, 2018 | The Washington Post
By Emilay Bazar
Rule No. 1: Stay alive. -
Worried About the Opioid Crackdown? Tell Your Pain Story (Opinion)
Apr 2, 2018 | National Pain Report
By Ed Coghlan
The Trump Administration has not made hearing the stories of chronic pain patients who are using opioids a big part of the conversation of what they call the “opioid crisis”. -
McKesson Advances Novel Argument to Avoid Opioid Liability
Mar 30, 2018 | Bloomberg BNA
By Dana Elfin
Drug distributor McKesson Corp. says its $40 billion contract with the federal government to deliver pharmacy products—including opioids—should protect it from liability for the opioid epidemic. -
Harwich Selectmen Hear Presentation on Joining Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers
Apr 2, 2018 | CapeCod.com (MA)
By David Beatty
A lawsuit targeting a number pharmaceutical companies may get support from town officials in Harwich. -
Charlton, Worcester lead charge against opioid makers
Apr 2, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal (MA)
By Emily Micucci
In the 1990s, there was retribution for the public health damage done by tobacco companies, when four major tobacco companies agreed to pay a minimum of $206 billion in damages over 25 years in a settlement with 44 U.S. states seeking recovery of tobacco-related healthcare costs. -
New London prepares to file lawsuit against Big Pharma
Mar 31, 2018 | The Day (CT)
By Lindsay Boyle
As a multitown lawsuit against major pharmaceutical companies moves forward in Waterbury, officials in New London are preparing to launch a lawsuit of their own. -
City Of Plattsburgh Among The Latest Communities Suing To Recover Opioid Addiction Costs
Mar 30, 2018 | WAMC (NY)
By Pat Bradley
Officials in the city of Plattsburgh have joined a growing list of municipalities planning to sue pharmaceutical companies over the opioid crisis. -
Will Cowlitz County join suit against opioid makers?
Mar 31, 2018 | TDN (WA)
By Alex Bruell
Several Washington counties, including some from Southwest Washington, have joined state Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s lawsuit against opioid drug manufacturers. -
Calling it an addiction ‘epidemic,’ Thurston County sues opioid manufacturers, distributors
Mar 30, 2018 | The Olympian (WA)
By Abby Spegman
Thurston County has filed a lawsuit against prescription opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors, saying they are to blame for the “epidemic levels” of opioid addiction in Thurston County. -
Canton law firm takes action in opioid suits; Attorney plans to ask city, county to get involved
Mar 30, 2018 | Cherokee Tribune & Ledger News (GA)
By Thomas Hartwell
A Canton law firm is seeking county and city participation in a growing movement of litigation filed against manufacturers and distributors of opioids. The news follows Woodstock City Council’s March 12 decision to join a class action suit led by Rome attorney Andy Davis. -
County takes large drug companies to court
Mar 31, 2018 | Morrison County Record (MN)
By Tyler Jensen
The lawsuit has been filed, and Morrison County is now in federal court with a number of opioid manufacturers and distributors. -
County debates joining lawsuit against opioid manufacturers
Apr 2, 2018 | The Hutchinson News (KS)
By John Green
Though not convinced drug manufacturers are to blame for opioid abuse in Reno County, the Reno County Commission on Tuesday will consider joining a multi-state lawsuit against those manufacturers to recover costs of responding to the epidemic. -
Cochise County to Join Lawsuit Against Opioid Makers
Apr 2, 2018 | Arizona Public Media (AZ)
By Zachary Ziegler
Cochise County Supervisors voted in favor of joining hundreds of other city, county and state governments in mass action litigation against companies that make opioid medications. -
Fox 17 News at 10:00PM
Mar 31, 2018 | Grand Rapids, MI
By WXMI (Fox)
Video Link :http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957553?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331 -
THV11 This Morning at 5A
Apr 2, 2018 | Little Rock, AR
By KTHV (CBS)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957534?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331 -
5 News at 5pm
Mar 31, 2018 | Ft. Smith, AR
By KFSM (CBS)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957540?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331 -
69 News Weekend Edition
Apr 2, 2018 | Philadelphia, PA
By WFMZ (WFMZ)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957547?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331 -
KIRO 7 News 6:00PM
Mar 30, 2018 | Seattle, WA
By KIRO (CBS)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957562?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331 -
Special Report With Bret Baier
Mar 30, 2018 | National Programming
By Fox News
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957601?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331 -
Daybreak
Mar 30, 2018 | Tucson, AZ
By KMSB (Fox)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957650?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331
Arkansas OAG Suit
Commentary and FYIs
Northeast (MA, CT, NY)
Northwest (WA)
Southeast (GA)
Midwest (MN, KS)
Southwest (AZ)
Broadcast Media Coverage
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Pulaski County joins opioids suit but still pursues own case
Apr 1, 2018 | Arkansas Online (AR)
By Emma Pettit
Every county in Arkansas is now part of a landmark lawsuit that seeks relief from opioid manufacturers after Pulaski County, the last holdout, agreed to join the case last week.
The county is still retaining two law firms to pursue its own case against people and companies that marketed, prescribed or sold prescription drugs containing opioids.
"Opioids" refers to a class of drugs. Heroin and fentanyl qualify, as do pain relievers obtained by prescription like oxycodone, codeine and morphine, according to the National Drug Institute.
The lawsuit was originally filed March 15 in Crittenden County Circuit Court with 72 counties, and 15 cities, as co-plaintiffs.
Drew, Jefferson and Pulaski counties weren't included in the original filing. Drew and Jefferson counties joined in late March, said Chris Villines, executive director of the Association of Arkansas Counties.
Pulaski County, the most populated county in the state, joined Friday. Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville Cabot, Maumelle, Sherwood and Cammack Village had already signed on.
A Pulaski County spokesman did not respond to questions earlier in the week as to why the county wasn't yet involved in the case. A Pulaski County attorney also said he could not comment.
Villines said he could not comment on that question, either.
Chief executives for Drew County and Jefferson County were unreachable for comment.
More than 50 drug manufacturers are named as defendants in the lawsuit, including Purdue Pharma, Endo Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson, as well as distributors, physicians and retailers.
The basic claim is that these entities concealed, or misrepresented, the harmful and addictive properties of the medications they made. As a result, Arkansans suffered.
The counties and cities involved are asking a jury to rule that these manufacturers, retailers, prescribers and distributors should pay for treatment.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said he wanted his county to get involved because he's witnessed a rise in drug abuse and drug-related crimes over the past several years.
"Frankly, we just don't have the funds for treatment centers and the many other things it's going to take to remedy this problem," he said.
In statements to other media outlets, Johnson & Johnson has said it promotes its drugs responsibly.
In a statement on its website, Purdue says it has a "responsibility to join the fight" against opioid abuse and that various approaches are needed.
This case is different from a federal opioid lawsuit filed by the Association of Arkansas Counties in December and from a case Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced Thursday.
The federal lawsuit is now part of a larger effort called the National Prescription Opiate Litigation. The group litigation was transferred to the Northern District of Ohio.
Rutledge's lawsuit was filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court, also against Purdue, Endo and Johnson & Johnson.
But the case championed by both the Association of Arkansas Counties and the Arkansas Municipal League is unique because it presents a united front, Villines said. A similar approach hasn't been attempted in any other state, he said.
"It's not only a county problem or only a city problem. It's a blurred problem," he said.
The association and the league began fielding interest from county judges, sheriffs and mayors last fall. Letters describing the terms of engagement for the case were then sent to municipalities.
Cory Watson Attorneys, Reddick Moss Attorneys, Wyly-Rommel PLLC and the Arkansas Municipal League/Municipal League Defense Program will be counsel for the case, the letter says.
If a settlement is reached, or a monetary judgment given, the attorneys will get 25 percent of that money, the letter says. If the lawsuit is unsuccessful, they'll get nothing.
Costs also will be subtracted from the total amount won. For example, if it's determined that a city is owed $1 million, then $250,000 would be paid to the attorneys.
Then, the costs accrued by the attorneys for actually working the case would be subtracted from the remaining $750,000. What's left would be awarded to the city.
On Friday, counsel for Pulaski County told the counties association to include the county as a co-plaintiff in the case, an association spokesman said. An amended complaint will be filed this week to include all new parties.
That agreement doesn't conflict with an existing contract between Pulaski County, Motley Rice LLC and McDaniel, Richardson & Calhoun PLLC, Pulaski County spokesman Cozetta Jones said.
In February, Pulaski County retained the national law firm and the law firm of former Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel to investigate and litigate its own opioid case, which the county is doing "aggressively," Jones said in an email.
The contract says attorneys will be paid 25 percent of the total settlement or money recovered.
If no money is awarded to Pulaski County, the county doesn't owe attorney costs or fees, the contract says.
To explain how Pulaski County can be a co-plaintiff and pursue its own litigation over the same issue, Jones used the example of three passengers in the same car.
If that car gets into a wreck, all three people can hire personal lawyers and be co-plaintiffs in one suit. Similar injuries, same defendant, she said in an email.
As for the apparent injuries of the opioid problem in Arkansas, Villines cited federal data.
For every 100 people, 114.6 initial and refill prescriptions were dispensed through retail pharmacies in Arkansas, giving the state the second-highest opioid prescribing rate in America, according to 2016 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The effects vary from local to local, but no one is immune," said Jerome Tapley, an attorney in the statewide case.
In addition to all 75 counties joining, more than 210 cities are now part of the case, and that number could still grow, Villines said.
"Everything about this lawsuit seems to evolve every day."
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One state's novel idea to make Big Pharma pay for opioid epidemic
Mar 30, 2018 | CNN
By Wayne Dash
Big Pharma should pay the billions it will take to fix the opioid crisis it created in Arkansas, a first-of-its-kind lawsuit says.Big Pharma should pay the billions it will take to fix the opioid crisis it created in Arkansas, a first-of-its-kind lawsuit says.
The suit, filed last week in Crittenden County Circuit Court, brings together 215 cities and 74 counties across the state and accuses opioid manufacturers of wreaking havoc by aggressively pushing the drugs from the early 2000s to the present, leading to hundreds of overdose deaths while straining law enforcement and public health resources.
Opioid manufacturers, the suit alleges, "falsely touted the benefits of long-term opioid use, including the supposed ability of opioids to improve function and quality of life, even though there was no 'good evidence' to support their claims.
"Each manufacturer defendant knew that its misrepresentations of the risks and benefits of opioids were not supported by, or were directly contrary, to the scientific evidence," says the suit.
The suit names 52 opioid manufacturers, including Purdue Pharma, Endo Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson, as well as 13 other distributors, physicians, pharmacists and retailers. It seeks to have a jury in Arkansas determine how much money
the companies should pay to create mental health clinics, drug courts, opioid abuse treatment clinics and other treatment programs across the state.
The suit differs from others filed against opioid manufacturers by more than a dozen state attorneys general, including Arkansas', across the nation, as well as scores of individual counties and cities that have filed their own lawsuits.
The Arkansas case brings together cities and counties in a single civil case. "Our case is unique in that regard, because it focuses on a remedy that will solve this problem," said Jerome Tapley, an attorney advising the cities and counties in the suit.
Officials in North Carolina, Utah, Mississippi, Iowa and several other states have reached out to learn more about how the case in Arkansas was brought, those involved with the suit told CNN.
The drug companies and other defendants have not filed a response, according to the Crittenden County clerk's office.
Johnson & Johnson took strong issue with the allegations. "Our actions in the marketing and promotion of these medicines were appropriate and responsible," it said in a statement. "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."
Purdue said that it was "deeply troubled by the prescription and illicit opioid abuse crisis" and that it was dedicated to working toward a solution. "We vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense," it said.
Endo did not respond to CNN's requests for comment. "We are unable to comment on legal matters relating to specific member companies," industry group PhRMA said in a statement.
The Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a national trade association representing wholesale distributors of opioids, including two named in the suit, called the issue a "complex public health challenge that requires a collaborative and systemic response."
"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," Senior Vice President John Parker said in a written statement. "Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation."
With debate in Washington on how to fix the opioid crisis and advocates pushing for billions in federal funding to create a robust treatment system, those involved in the Arkansas case say their solution is simple: Make the manufacturers pay.
"There's an equity situation as to whether the taxpayers should have to bear the burden of this, as opposed to the folks who created the problem," said Don Zimmerman, executive director of the Arkansas Municipal League, an alliance of cities and towns.
The opioid crisis has become a major priority among the Trump administration, with the president declaring the epidemic a public health emergency. Just last week, Trump rolled out a three-part plan to tackle the opioid epidemic, including supporting policies to increase access to the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, calling for more medication-assisted treatment programs and highlighting a new high-profile advertising campaign to discourage America's youth from trying drugs.
Trump also said he wanted to go after drug manufacturers in a big way. "Our Department of Justice is looking very seriously into bringing major litigation against some of these drug companies," he said. "Some states are already bringing it, but we are thinking about bringing it at a very high federal level."
Tapley said the administration's strong stance only helps the Arkansas case. He compared the dire situation there to a massive oil spill, with city and county officials trying to return their communities back to the way they were before the disaster. "That's our objective in this lawsuit: to restore Arkansas communities back to where they were before the opioid crisis began," he said.
Drug companies in Arkansas, the suit says, sold enough opioids in the state for every man, woman and child to take 80 pills a year. In 2016 alone, more than 235 million opioid pills were sold across the state, the suit says.
Tapley and Zimmerman said the opioid epidemic has created a strain across the state, with city and county jails overflowing and the state's judicial system clogged. So-called heroin babies -- those born addicted to opioids -- have increased tenfold since 2000. The epidemic has also gripped the state's youth in other ways. Arkansas ranks first in the nation for children ages 12 to 17 misusing painkillers, the lawsuit says.
The state is also overwhelmed by children whose parents get arrested due to opioid use, Tapley said. "How do you process them? How do you end the cycle of addiction? How do you find services to provide emotional and psychological support?" he asked. "Part of the remedy will be to create these services."
Adding to the mounting legal action, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state attorney general Leslie Rutledge on Thursday announced a separate suit against opioid manufacturers Purdue, Johnson & Johnson and Endo, accusing the companies of making billions of dollars while deceiving the public about the potential dangers of opioids.
"Drug companies should never place their desire for profits above the health and well being of their customers or the communities where their customers live," Rutledge said. "In short, these manufacturers lied. ... The marketing schemes and misinformation campaigns utilized by Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Endo are irresponsible and downright dangerous.
"I am here today to tell you: I am going to make them pay for what they have done to Arkansas," she said.
The attorney general said Thursday's suit brought by the state deals with potential Medicare fraud and violations of the Arkansas trade practices act, different from what the cities and counties are alleging.
Hutchinson called the legal actions "a significant step in our overall efforts to combat opioid abuse and to look for partners to address the problem."
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Arkansas' attorney general uses five private law firms to file opioid lawsuit
Mar 30, 2018 | Legal NewsLine
By John O'Brien
Another Republican has officially joined forces with the trial bar to sue the makers of prescription painkillers, as Arkansas’ Leslie Rutledge recently filed her anticipated lawsuit through five different private law firms.
On March 29, months after her investigation was announced, Rutledge filed suit against companies accused of creating the nation’s opioid crisis. Defendants include Purdue Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Endo Pharmaceuticals.
“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,” Rutledge said.
Previously, Legal Newsline reported that Rutledge is among a group of Republican AGs who has criticized the approaches of some of her Democratic colleagues who are investigating the energy sector over the effects of global warming.
Members of that group, and other Republicans, are using private lawyers who stand to gain millions of dollars if a national settlement is realized. Lawsuits in federal courts have been consolidated in a multidistrict litigation proceeding in Cleveland.
Rutledge has hired former Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore, who played a key role in the tobacco litigation of the 1990s to which the opioid cases are sometimes compared.
Moore pioneered the public-private litigation strategy as Mississippi AG in 1994 when he sued the tobacco industry, setting in motion a wave of lawsuits that culminated in the $260 billion tobacco settlement four years later.
Rutledge has also hired Hagens Berman of Seattle; Dover Dixon Horne of Little Rock; Davidson Bowie of Mississippi; and McGowan Hood and Felder of South Carolina.
Louisiana AG Jeff Landry, who also signed the 2016 letter condemning the climate change litigation, has also hired Moore.
South Carolina AG Alan Wilson, also a signer, hired Linda Singer of Motley Rice, and Ohio AG Mike DeWine has signed contracts with the same team as Arkansas, including Moore, Hagens Berman and Davidson Bowie. Montana AG Tim Fox also hired Singer, the former District of Columbia attorney general.
Alone among Republicans suing the opioid industry, Missouri AG Josh Hawley is using lawyers in his own office. That could save the state tens of millions of dollars depending on whether and how much it recovers from the industry.
Under the Arkansas contract, private lawyers are entitled to receive statutory fees of up to $50 million plus costs and expenses.
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Mar 31, 2018 | DOJ
A federal jury found a Houston physician and the owner of a pain management clinic guilty today for their roles in running a “pill mill” that provided tens of thousands of unlawful prescriptions for millions of doses of opioids and other controlled substances.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of the Southern District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Houston Division made the announcement.
After a nine-day trial, Gazelle Craig, D.O., 41, and Shane Faithful, 48, both of Houston, Texas, were convicted of one count of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances and three counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled before U.S. District Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas, who presided over the trial. Both defendants were remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service.
“Our great country is currently in the midst of the deadliest drug crisis in our history,” said Attorney General Sessions. “Sadly, even some trusted medical professionals like doctors, nurses and pharmacists have chosen to violate their oaths and exploit this crisis for cash. The consequences have been devastating. In this case, tens of thousands of pills flooded our streets because of the defendants’ actions. We will never know for certain the scale of the damage done. We do know that justice has been served, and so I want to thank everyone who helped secure this conviction, including the DEA and Department of Justice Trial Attorneys Scott Armstrong and Devon Helfmeyer. This conviction will not only help stop the diversion of prescription drugs, it will send a message to every would-be fraudster in America.”
According to evidence presented at trial, from March 2015 through July 2017, Craig, a licensed doctor, and Faithful, the clinic owner, ran Gulfton Community Health Center (Gulfton), which operated as an illegal pill mill. The evidence showed that Craig unlawfully wrote approximately 18,252 prescriptions for over 2.1 million dosage units of hydrocodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, and approximately 15,649 prescriptions for over 1.3 million dosage units of carisporodal, a Schedule IV controlled substance. The combination of hydrocodone and carisoprodol is a dangerous drug cocktail with no known medical benefit, the evidence showed.
The trial evidence showed that Craig issued unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances to as many as 60 patients a day. “Crew leaders” ferried numerous patients to Gulfton so that Craig could provide them with unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances. Faithful and Craig charged approximately $300 for each prescription and required payment in cash. The evidence also revealed that the defendants divided each day’s cash proceeds, often in excess of $15,000, from the sale of the unlawful prescriptions.
Faithful and Craig made great efforts to prevent law enforcement from investigating Gulfton, the evidence showed. For example, they banned the use of any electronic devices in the clinic and prevented anyone from bringing bags into Gulfton. Approximately four armed security guards also patrolled Gulfton daily to control the crowds of people, who ranged from addicts to “crew leaders.”
This case was investigated by the DEA. Trial Attorneys Scott Armstrong and Devon Helfmeyer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operates in nine locations nationwide. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged over 3,500 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $12.5 billion.
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Staying Alive: How To Fight An Opioid Addiction (Opinion)
Apr 2, 2018 | The Washington Post
By Emilay Bazar
Rule No. 1: Stay alive.
If you or a loved one wants to beat an opioid addiction, first make sure you have a handy supply of naloxone, a medication that can reverse an overdose and save your life.
“Friends and families need to keep naloxone with them,” says Dr. David Kan, an addiction medicine specialist in Walnut Creek who is president of the California Society of Addiction Medicine. “People using opioids should keep it with them, too.”
More than 42,200 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2016, victims of a crisis that’s being fueled by the rise of a powerful synthetic opioid called fentanyl, which is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin. Rock stars Prince and Tom Petty had fentanyl in their systems when they died.
People can become addicted to opioids through long-term use, or misuse, of prescription painkillers. In most cases, that leads to heroin use, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
If you’re ready to address your own addiction, or that of a loved one, know that you may not succeed — at first. You probably won’t be able to do it without outside help or medications. And you’ll probably have to take those medications for years — or the rest of your life.
“Getting over a drug addiction is a process. There are going to be ups and downs,” says Patt Denning, director of clinical services and training at the Center for Harm Reduction Therapy in San Francisco and Oakland. “We need to hang with people while they’re struggling. It might take awhile.”
That’s why Denning and others suggest you start with having naloxone on hand, which can help you stay alive through the process.
Last year in San Francisco, about 1,200 potentially fatal overdoses were reversed by regular folks administering naloxone, not doctors, police or paramedics, Kan says.
Naloxone, which can be administered as a nasal spray or injection, is available without a prescription in more than 40 states, including California. Ask your pharmacy if it stocks the drug. Needle exchange programs also offer the medication at no charge, Denning says, as do some public health clinics.
Rehab Doesn’t Work
People addicted to opioids face staggering relapse rates of 80 to 90 percent within 90 days if they try short-term rehab or detox programs that wean them off the drugs without assistance from medications, says Richard Rawson, a UCLA psychiatry professor emeritus.
Rawson warns that rehab can also increase the risk of an overdose, because your body’s tolerance to opioids is lower after you withdraw from them.
“If you leave rehab and take the same dose you used to take, you’re not just going to get high, you’re going to be dead,” he says.
Instead of treating opioid addiction like a curable illness, he and other experts liken it to lifelong, chronic conditions such as diabetes that require ongoing management.
“This isn’t going to be one visit. If you have an addictive disorder, this is going to be the rest of your life,” says Dr. Stuart Gitlow, an addiction specialist in New York City who is past president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.
Chronic illnesses often require medication. Rawson and others point to two drugs in particular that may help break your addiction: buprenorphine and methadone.
There is some unwarranted stigma attached to these drugs, along with a belief that “you’re just exchanging one addiction for another,” Kan says.
While these medications are actually opioids themselves, they control craving and withdrawal — and help prevent the compulsive and dangerous behavior often associated with addiction.
They also reduce your chances of an overdose, Rawson says. And they protect you from other risks that come with opioid addiction, such as exposure to blood-borne infections from sharing needles, including HIV and hepatitis C.
Essentially, the medications make you “comfortable enough physically” to confront the issues behind your addiction, from anxiety and depression to post-traumatic stress disorder, Denning says.
The federal government agrees.
“Abundant scientific data show that long-term use of maintenance medications successfully reduces substance use, risk of relapse and overdose, associated criminal behavior, and transmission of infectious disease, as well as helps patients return to a healthy, functional life,” according to the Surgeon General’s 2016 report on addiction in America.
To obtain methadone, you must visit a clinic governed by state and federal rules.
“These clinics are not particularly patient-friendly. You have to go every day. You can’t travel,” Denning says. “It takes over your life.”
Buprenorphine, on the other hand, can be obtained from doctors, including primary care physicians, who have undergone training and received federal approval.
“The beauty of buprenorphine is it can be prescribed like any medication out of a doctor’s office,” Denning says.
To find a doctor who prescribes buprenorphine, go to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website at www.samhsa.gov and click on the “Find Help & Treatment” link from the home page. You can search by state and ZIP code.
Though you can receive care from your primary care physician, Gitlow recommends that you also consult with an addiction specialist.
In California, find one by visiting the California Society of Addiction Medicine’s website at www.csam-asam.org and clicking on the “Physician Locator” tab.
If you do not live in California, check the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry’s website at www.aaap.org and click on the “Patient Resources” tab on the home page.
After You Start The Medication …
Once patients start one of the medications, it’s not clear how long they should stay on — a question that deserves further research, Rawson says.
“The longer people stay on treatment, the lower the death rate is and the more they’re able to function,” he says.
Often patients face pressure from family members, who badger them to get off the medications even though it would be better for them to stay on them, Kan says.
“We don’t say to patients who suffer from diabetes … ‘Have you changed your diet enough so you can get off insulin?’” he says.
Kan and other addiction specialists generally don’t encourage medication treatment alone, no matter how long you stay on it. Pairing the medication with therapy or other support, including 12-step programs such as Narcotics Anonymous, can reduce relapse rates further, they say.
Al-Anon and Nar-Anon groups also can be helpful resources for families, Kan adds.
“12-step is something I encourage for everybody. I don’t consider it a treatment, per se. It’s like mutual support,” he says.
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Worried About the Opioid Crackdown? Tell Your Pain Story (Opinion)
Apr 2, 2018 | National Pain Report
By Ed Coghlan
The Trump Administration has not made hearing the stories of chronic pain patients who are using opioids a big part of the conversation of what they call the “opioid crisis”.
But they are giving people a chance to say something.
They’ve launched a website…www.crisisnextdoor.gov…and asking Americans to share their story by uploading a video about how you “overcame addiction, volunteered at a recovery center or worked as a family to help a loved one get on the path to recovery.
They are calling the opioid addiction issue as the “crisis next door” (hence the url for the website).
The website features among others former Fox News Host Eric Bolling who lost his son to opioid overdose and former New York Mets slugger Darryl Strawberry who famously fought addiction during his long major league career.
But chronic pain advocates, like Dr. Terri Lewis, think this is an opportunity to share the “other side” of the story—which is the impact that reduced opioids are having on the chronic pain population.
Let us suggest you take a look at the videos already on the site to get an idea of what to do.
But here are some tips on how to organize and present your thoughts:“Who Am I?”: Use your name and city and in one sentence describe your or your loved one’s pain condition.“There Are a Lot of Us”: Share that you are one of millions (maybe a hundred million Americans) who suffer from chronic pain.“We Aren’t All Addicts”: In one sentence (or two) describe how you have been using pain medication to combat your pain condition—and how it helps you (work, keep with family obligations etc)“Don’t Forget the Chronic Pain Patient”: Make your pitch—concisely and politely—about making sure the discussion about opioids is expanded to include the millions of chronic pain patients who use opioids responsibly.“Do More for the Pain Patient”: It might be worth making a final pitch for more research and education by the federal government on chronic pain.
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McKesson Advances Novel Argument to Avoid Opioid Liability
Mar 30, 2018 | Bloomberg BNA
By Dana Elfin
Drug distributor McKesson Corp. says its $40 billion contract with the federal government to deliver pharmacy products—including opioids—should protect it from liability for the opioid epidemic.
According to the drug distributor’s filing in federal court, McKesson acted under the direction of a federal government officer for at least some of the allegedly illegal acts the Cherokee Nation claims.
The nation seeks to hold McKesson and other drug retailers and distributors responsible for the epidemic, which could mean significant potential financial liability, particularly given the suit is just one of more than 500 actions filed around the country by counties, cities, Indian tribes, and other entities seeking to recover damages on the basis of expenses they have incurred in dealing with opioid addiction.
McKesson’s invocation of its supply contract with the federal government could be a successful defense to the nation’s claims that McKesson enabled prescription opioids to fall into illegal channels, didn’t alert regulators to suspiciously large quantity orders, and used financial incentives to increase opioid sales.
A lot is at stake: McKesson recorded $198.5 billion in annual revenue for its most recent fiscal year, according to data on Bloomberg Law.
McKesson’s supply contract, a pharmaceutical prime vendor (PPV) contract with the Veterans’ Administration (VA), is governed by federal law and overseen by a federal contracting officer, McKesson said in its court filing.
“This PPV Contract obligates McKesson to supply prescription medications to Tribal facilities when they are ordered by the Indian Health Service (IHS) through the PPV Contract and likewise to supply the VA facilities in and around the Tribal Area,” it said.Government Contractor Defense
The government contractor defense “provides immunity to contractors for conduct that complies with the specifications of a federal contract,” McKesson said. Although McKesson raised the defense in support of its argument that a federal court and not state court should hear the nation’s suit, its filing makes clear the company meets the minimal burden of sufficiently alleging the government contractor defense.
Whether McKesson’s defense will ultimately succeed is an open question.
The Cherokee Nation, in its own filing seeking to send its case from federal court back to state court, is calling McKesson’s potential government contractor defense into question.
“McKesson’s brief is devoid of any explanation how its potential exposure to liability in this lawsuit is ‘because of’ its compliance with a government contract—which is not surprising, since the [PPV] Contract attached to McKesson’s brief actually prohibits the misconduct at issue here,” the nation said in the filing.
“McKesson’s statement that the federal government somehow directed its actions in this case is patently untrue, and it is puzzling how McKesson can even make that claim in light of the federal government’s $150 million fine against McKesson last year for conduct substantially similar to what the Cherokee Nation has alleged in this lawsuit,” it said.Fine Paid in 2017
In 2017, McKesson paid a $150 million fine to the federal government for failing to report certain opioid shipments to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
In addition to McKesson, defendants in the nation’s suit also include Cardinal Health Inc., AmerisourceBergen, CVS Health, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., all of whom are accused of failing to monitor their supply chain under the Controlled Substances Act and of violating the Cherokee Nation’s Unfair Trade and Deceptive Practices Act.
The case is The Cherokee Nation v. McKesson Corp. , E.D. Okla., No. , E.D. Okla., No. 18-CV-00056, 2/26/18, complaint filed 2/26/18 .
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Harwich Selectmen Hear Presentation on Joining Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers
Apr 2, 2018 | CapeCod.com (MA)
By David Beatty
A lawsuit targeting a number pharmaceutical companies may get support from town officials in Harwich.
Selectmen are considering joining in on the suit against corporations which are alleged to be behind the region’s opioid crisis.
In a meeting last week, the board heard a presentation from Town Counsel John Giorgio who believes that the town may be able to recoup money the town has spent combatting the epidemic.
The legal effort is being spearheaded by the Massachusetts Opioid Litigation Attorneys, and includes Giorgio’s own firm, KP Law. The suit has been compared to similar efforts which targeted tobacco companies for damages incurred through smoking.
“The purpose of the lawsuit would be to establish liability and to collect damages, actual damages incurred by cities and towns and fighting the opioid epidemic,” said Giorgio.
According to Giorgio, if all goes to plan the town could be reimbursed for funds spent on public safety, overdose responses, Narcan, and abuse counseling.
While there is no cost for the town to join in on the suit, the lawyers will take a 25% cut of any proceeds if the effort is successful.
“The litigation is structured basically as a contingent fee, so there would be absolutely no cost to the town,” explained Giorgio, “If and when there is a settlement or a judgment we will get a very, very, very small portion of that for our services.”
Harwich Selectmen did note take a vote on the matter at last week’s meeting and may revisit the matter at a later date.
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Charlton, Worcester lead charge against opioid makers
Apr 2, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal (MA)
By Emily Micucci
In the 1990s, there was retribution for the public health damage done by tobacco companies, when four major tobacco companies agreed to pay a minimum of $206 billion in damages over 25 years in a settlement with 44 U.S. states seeking recovery of tobacco-related healthcare costs.
Now, the pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution industry could be on track to settle another landmark public health lawsuit, as municipalities across the U.S. file suit seek damages for costs stemming from the opioid crisis that built to a crescendo of deadly overdoses in 2015, roughly two decades after opioids became the usual prescription for pain caused by anything from back surgery to chronic pain conditions and dental work.
In March, the City of Worcester joined more than 50 other Massachusetts cities and towns pursuing payback for the cost of addiction. City Manager Edward Augustus' office on Feb. 28 announced Worcester planned to file a lawsuit in Massachusetts Superior Court against manufacturers and distributors, alleging, as other communities have, drugmakers were deliberately deceptive about the safety and appropriate use of opioids, resulting in catastrophic public costs in Worcester.
Small town problems
Robin Craver, town administrator in Charlton, which intends to file a lawsuit with the help of a consortium known as Massachusetts Opioid Litigation Attorneys (MOLA), said South Central Massachusetts has been hard hit.
A Webster resident, Craver has seen people passed out on the road in the middle of the night, ostensibly under the influence of opioids – often heroin, which people end up using when they lose access to prescription opioids.
Craver said she brought the lawsuit forward after being contacted by a MOLA attorney, suggesting Charlton pursue litigation. At least 10 other towns have engaged with MOLA about filing a lawsuit, including Auburn, Dudley, Douglas, Hopedale, Leicester, Leominster, Northbridge, Southbridge, Spencer and Winchendon.
For small towns, the costs of a drug crisis add up, Craver said, with police responding to increased breaking-and-entering calls, and encountering dangerous and more time-consuming situations on the job.
"The taxpayers have been subsidizing the fallout from the opioid epidemic … and it's time stand up and say, 'No more,'" Craver said.Quantifying the cost
Worcester didn't quantified the cost of responding to and trying to stem the opioid crisis in its lawsuit. Details about the costs will be determined during the discovery phase of the case, though it's unlikely a dollar figure will be provided, said Worcester City Solicitor David Moore. Damages will be determined by the court. "We have a duty to file the suit and return as much funding as we can," Moore said.
While the city doesn't have an accounting of expenditures, the opioid crisis has been costly. Moore said the city has spent money on emergency response within the police and fire departments; training employees to use Narcan, a drug that blocks the dangerous effects of opioids in emergency situations; recovery programs; and health insurance claims for city employees and their dependent family members who have struggled with addiction.
In addition to getting money to recoup spending on these items, Moore said the city is looking for the court to impose measures to prevent similar problems in the future.
"We want to see some injunctive measures for these companies going forward in hopes of containing this epidemic," Moore said.
Worcester's strategy is a departure from other cities and towns filing lawsuits like Charlton. The MOLA consortium is leading litigation for four other communities with filed lawsuits in federal court in Massachusetts, including Greenfield, Revere, Methuen and Woburn. The lawsuits are separate but communities can leverage work done by MOLA by filing with the consortium.
The same group is expected to file dozens more on behalf of about 40 cities and towns voting to move forward to lawsuits, said Tucker Merrigan, one of the MOLA attorneys.
Worcester officials were advised by the Connecticut law firm they've hired to lead the litigation, Scott & Scott, Attorneys at Law LLP, to pursue litigation in Superior Court, said Moore. Most other Massachusetts cities and towns will file under the direction of MOLA in federal court, and those lawsuits are being handled by a federal judge in Ohio, who is managing lawsuits for municipalities all over the U.S.
If they go to trial, they will end up back in a Mass. federal court, Merrigan said, but the discovery phase will be streamlined in the Ohio federal court.
"There's a better chance for a better result for the city to be one of a small number [of cases] in state court than being one of a large number in federal court," Moore said.
Litigation won't cost Worcester any money up front, as attorneys are working on a contingency basis and won't get paid unless damages are awarded.
Moore said he is confident about Worcester's chances of receiving damages, but any city or town taking on the pharmaceutical industry faces a formidable opponent. Big pharma companies making opioids like Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma and Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries rake in tens of billions of dollars and have ample resources to defend themselves.Misguided lawsuits?
Interestingly, Worcester did not name any drug manufacturers specifically when it announced it would file suit, but did call out major drug distributors, including Pennsylvania-based AmeriSourceBergen Drug Corp., Ohio-based Cardinal Health Inc. and Ludlow-based McKesson Corp., when it announced plans for a lawsuit.
John Parker, senior vice president of the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, the national trade association representing drug distributors, responded to the Worcester lawsuit and others, saying distributors don't drive demand for opioids.
"Tying those pieces together … seems to be misguided and misinformed in terms of the way the system works," Parker said.
But Merrigan, the MOLA attorney, said drug distributors are bound by the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970, which, among other things, requires distributors to report prescription drug orders unusual in terms of size, frequency and location.
Perhaps the most notable example of distributors failing to adhere to the law was a report about drug companies shipping 21 million opioid prescriptions to just two pharmacies in a small West Virginia town between 2006 and 2016. But Parker said the federal Drug Enforcement Administration hasn't provided clear-cut guidelines for what constitutes reportable activity.
"We've been asking the DEA for greater clarity of the roles and responsibilities as it relates to reporting," Parker said.
Merrigan said plaintiffs filing lawsuits through MOLA are hoping to get access to the Congressional data used to inform the West Virginia report during the discovery phase. So far, examples of blatant overprescription haven't been pinpointed.
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New London prepares to file lawsuit against Big Pharma
Mar 31, 2018 | The Day (CT)
By Lindsay Boyle
As a multitown lawsuit against major pharmaceutical companies moves forward in Waterbury, officials in New London are preparing to launch a lawsuit of their own.
Similar cases, which seek damages from the companies, are popping up across the country. The idea is that pharmaceutical companies, by not telling the truth about the addictiveness of opioids, are to blame for the thousands of deaths the country has seen and the millions of dollars municipalities have shelled out in response.
On Friday, Mayor Michael Passero said officials began considering such litigation back in the fall, when a few law firms approached the city about it. In the months that followed, he, Human Services Director Jeanne Milstein and City Attorney Jeffrey Londregan interviewed several firms, searching for the best fit.
In the end, they opted not to sign on to the ongoing lawsuit in Waterbury, in which 18 largely southwestern Connecticut municipalities are plaintiffs. The city, Passero said, didn’t want to take the chance that “New London’s interests would get lost among the interests of the other towns.”
Londregan said New London ultimately enlisted Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law, an international firm with several offices, including one in Colchester.
“In talking with Scott and Scott, we learned there’s some legitimate legal arguments to be made as to the drug companies creating this problem,” Londregan said. “We liked their theory of how to bring the case a little better than the Waterbury contingent.”
That’s nothing against the Waterbury contingent, Londregan added. He imagines the dozens of similar lawsuits nationwide, which generally name the same defendants, at some point could end up consolidated or otherwise handled en masse.
In the Waterbury case, the defendants are Purdue Pharma L.P., Purdue Pharma Inc., The Purdue Frederick Company Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., Cephalon Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc., Endo Health Solutions Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., Dr. Perry Fine, Dr. Scott Fishman and Dr. Lynn Webster.
Speaking by phone Friday, attorney James Hartley, who’s handling the case for Drubner, Hartley & Hellman LLC, said most of the involved towns signed on after the Waterbury mayor hosted a meeting about suing the companies.
Hartley said he imagines more towns will join as the case, still in its infancy, moves forward. Judge Thomas G. Moukawsher just issued a scheduling order Thursday, outlining various deadlines and calling for a June 28 hearing.
The towns' complaint alleges that pharmaceutical companies fooled people into thinking opioid medications were safer and more effective than they are through a "coordinated, sophisticated and highly deceptive marketing campaign" that began in the late 1990s and continues today, even as tens of thousands of U.S. citizens are dying of opioid-related overdoses. The towns are seeking compensatory and punitive damages related to the costs of employee health care, emergency response and other addiction-related services.
In New London, officials plan to file their complaint in New London Superior Court next week.
As is standard in many of these cases, Scott + Scott is taking the case on contingency, meaning the city will have to pay a fee only if the lawsuit is successful or is settled out of court. Passero said he believes many of the same defendants will be named.
“New London has incurred a lot of expenses related to this,” Passero said of the opioid crisis.
Last year, New London saw 14 fatal overdoses and dozens more nonfatal overdoses. Of the fatal overdoses, all but two were opioid-related.
“I don’t want to whine about the cost of emergency response,” Passero continued. “The real victims in this are the people. But I feel we have an obligation to recover money for our taxpayers.”
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City Of Plattsburgh Among The Latest Communities Suing To Recover Opioid Addiction Costs
Mar 30, 2018 | WAMC (NY)
By Pat Bradley
Officials in the city of Plattsburgh have joined a growing list of municipalities planning to sue pharmaceutical companies over the opioid crisis.
A somewhat innocuous item appeared for approval on the Plattsburgh Common Council agenda Wednesday. It stated: “RESOLVED: In accordance with the request therefore the Common Council approves that the Mayor is authorized to sign Boyajian Retainer agreement for opioid litigation.” Before councilors voted Mayor Colin Read briefly explained the measure. "We’ll see if we can protect people who have suffered harm from the opioid problem as a consequence of over provision of opioid drugs by manufacturers and providers.”
The NYS Department of Health is required to report on opioid-related data and prevention efforts. According to its Opioid Annual Report published in October 2017: “The age-adjusted rate of all opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 population in New York State doubled between 2010 and 2015.” Opioids in the report include those that are prescribed and illegal opioids such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, or fentanyl.
The lawsuit the city is signing onto is being coordinated by the Albany law firm Dreyer Boyajian. Founding Partner Donald Boyajian says lawsuits are being filed across the country. "Various municipalities going from states to counties to cities and even towns and villages are understanding the fact that they have some rights to try to recoup some of the expense that they’ve incurred as a result of the epidemic.”
Boyajian notes that technically the effort is a centralized action rather than a class action.
Mayor Read says there is no cost to the city to join. “We’re banding together to try to recoup some of the costs from what we contend is an overly lax system for the manufacture and distribution of pain killing drugs to the point where in some communities the number of prescriptions seem to outnumber the number of citizens. So clearly there’s a really imbalance and some improprieties.”
Boyajian explains that in passing the resolution the city is signing up for an analysis to understand the costs it has incurred to respond to the opioid crisis. “This is a real problem in virtually every municipality in that there’s increased numbers of EMS and first responders responding to overdose and other issues. So it involves costs for police and for fire and for the drugs which are administered. Cities that have medical examiners have costs. Cities that have public hospitals have costs, now Plattsburgh does not, but the whole idea is that those increased costs really should be borne by what we believe are the people who are really responsible for this epidemic, at least in part and to hold them accountable for some of those costs.”
In early March, Executive Director of the New York State Association of Counties Stephen Acquario was on a panel at the National Association of Counties’ Legislative Conference in Washington discussing opioid related litigation. According to the national group, several states and more than 100 counties filed lawsuits in 2017 against pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors of the drugs. While some cities, towns and villages are now joining the lawsuit, Acquario said almost all counties in New York have already joined the litigation. “We provide the most services to those in need and the public at large. Criminal justice services, medical examiner costs, toxicology lab costs, police services, mental health, addiction counseling, substance abuse services, the impact in foster care and of course court costs, prosecution, probation. There are many many costs associated with this and we will aggressively pursue those damages through litigation.”
The lawsuits do not target individual physicians.
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Will Cowlitz County join suit against opioid makers?
Mar 31, 2018 | TDN (WA)
By Alex Bruell
Several Washington counties, including some from Southwest Washington, have joined state Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s lawsuit against opioid drug manufacturers.
Cowlitz County, which has the one of the state’s highest opioid death rates, appears conflicted over whether to join the effort. But some clarity may emerge next week.
Ferguson filed a lawsuit in September against Oxycontin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, accusing the company of fueling Washington’s opioid epidemic and running a massive deceptive marketing campaign against doctors and the public.
King, Clallam, Pierce, Thurston and Skagit counties have already filed suit against opioid manufacturers. The Lewis County commissioners are considering suing as well. Clark County joined the effort last week.
The situation is unclear in Cowlitz County. Commissioner Arne Mortensen strongly opposes the idea. Commissioner Dennis Weber supports it. Commissioner Joe Gardner is undecided. And another key decision maker in the matter, County Prosecutor Ryan Jurvakainen, says he, too, has yet to make up his mind.
Mortensen said the government should step out of the way between physicians and patients.
“It’s not like these things haven’t been known,” Mortensen said of Oxycontin’s addictive dangers. “People have known for years smoking is bad for you, that opiates are addictive and so forth. ... We’re always shying away from people’s responsibility.”
According to drugabuse.gov, about one quarter of the patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them, with a further 10 percent developing an opioid use disorder. Suspected opioid overdoses rose from 15 to 20 per 10,000 emergency department visits in 2017 on the West Coast, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mortensen referenced his own experience with Oxycontin after a back surgery two decades ago.
“It was a hell of a lot of pain,” Mortensen said, “so I asked the physician ‘How addictive is this?’ and he said ‘It’s addictive, but you won’t heal if you don’t move, and you have to move despite the pain.’ In 1998, it was known that Oxycontin was addictive. I can’t imagine that anybody would claim that they didn’t know.”
According to the Washington Department of Health, Cowlitz County has the third highest rate of opioid related overdose deaths from 2012-16 in the state, with 13.6 deaths per 100,000 people. Commissioner Weber said a lawsuit is a way to hold drug manufacturers accountable and help compensate taxpayers for the costs of the many costs caused by addiction.
“To me, it’s analogous to the tobacco lawsuit, where the tobacco companies were sued and forced into a settlement,” Weber said. “... (there are) excessive amounts of jail time, substance abuse treatments, and all the problems dealing with opioid overdose. (It’s) another example of where there have been errors made by certain interested (parties) for the sake of profits that have resulted in excessive costs to the taxpayers.”
Weber said that physicians are “under the gun” from the federal government to improve pain management for their patients, and that some opioid companies are claiming their drugs are easy to manage despite the risks.
Weber urged the board in December to join him in endorsing a lawsuit. He said that the liability for covering opioid treatment should not fall entirely on taxpayers, and that a successful lawsuit could underwrite some of the costs of treating drug treatment.
“We’ve decided to borrow about $6 million to build a bigger morgue, in part because of the increase in opioid death,” Weber said. “Our coroner doesn’t have room to store bodies as they do investigations. So yeah, I think we should be at the table.”
As a result of the December meeting, Weber asked the county prosecutor’s office if it could join the lawsuits against the opioid makers. The answer was yes, but the commissioners have not taken up the matter since then, said Weber.
The final commissioner, Joe Gardner, said he’s not yet ready to make a decision on the suit.
“I think I need to learn more about it,” Gardner said. “I’m hesitant to say I’d join it at this point. ... We’d have to engage with the Cowlitz County prosecutor’s office and get their take.”
The ultimate decision likely rests with County Prosecutor Ryan Jurvakainen, who serves as the county’s lawyer. Commissioners certainly can vote in an advisory capacity, but Jurvakainen could act on this own, Weber said.
“A lot of stuff has to be reviewed and discussed with commissioners and other people” before making a decision, Jurvakainen said Saturday.
“Ultimately, I guess it would be our discretion,” he added, “but our job on the civil side is to be the county attorney. The commissioners are essentially the policy makers of the county.”
Weber said he will bring the matter up again this week.
“The door is not closed. We could still take steps,” Weber said.
Ferguson, the state attorney general, argues that Purdue Pharma gave specific physicians misleading information on drug abuse and addiction despite a 2007 court order prohibiting the company from doing so.
“Purdue ignored warning signs and their own studies while targeting high-prescribing doctors in Washington state,” Ferguson wrote in January. “It’s time they are held accountable for the devastation this epidemic has caused.”
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Calling it an addiction ‘epidemic,’ Thurston County sues opioid manufacturers, distributors
Mar 30, 2018 | The Olympian (WA)
By Abby Spegman
Thurston County has filed a lawsuit against prescription opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors, saying they are to blame for the “epidemic levels” of opioid addiction in Thurston County.
The lawsuit, which was filed Monday in U.S. District Court, argues the defendants provided false and misleading information to doctors and patients about the safety of prescription opioids over the past two decades. Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim said the aim of the lawsuit is to hold opioid manufacturers and distributors accountable for creating “the worst human-caused epidemic in history.”
“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,” Tunheim said in a news release.
Among the defendants named in the lawsuit are Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin; Endo Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Percocet; and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson that makes patches that release the painkiller fentanyl.
The complaint alleges they violated the Washington Consumer Protection Act and the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, and that their conduct constitutes a public nuisance, negligence, gross negligence and unjust enrichment under state law.
County officials say the rise of prescription opioids in Thurston County was followed closely by a dramatic rise in heroin use; last year, about half of the people who used the county’s needle exchange program reported their primary drug was heroin.
According to the complaint, at least 106 residents of Thurston County died from opioid-related overdoses from 2012 to 2016.
“The opioid epidemic simply could not have become the crisis it is today without an enormous supply of pills,” according to the complaint.
Hundreds of states, cities and counties have filed similar lawsuits against drugmakers and distributors, including in Washington. Thurston County is represented by the Seattle-based law firm Keller Rohrback, which has also filed suits on behalf of King, Pierce and Skagit counties and the cities of Tacoma, Mount Vernon, Burlington and Sedro-Woolley.
Last month, Thurston County commissioners approved a resolution supporting such a lawsuit, saying the county has incurred significant costs responding to opioid-related crimes and medical emergencies.
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Canton law firm takes action in opioid suits; Attorney plans to ask city, county to get involved
Mar 30, 2018 | Cherokee Tribune & Ledger News (GA)
By Thomas Hartwell
A Canton law firm is seeking county and city participation in a growing movement of litigation filed against manufacturers and distributors of opioids. The news follows Woodstock City Council’s March 12 decision to join a class action suit led by Rome attorney Andy Davis.
Jonathan Pope, of Canton firm Hasty Pope, LLP told the Tribune in an interview on Friday that he will be scheduling meetings with Cherokee and Canton officials to discuss the possibility of the governments filing suits against more than a dozen opioid manufacturers and distributors. Unlike Woodstock’s choice to join the class action suit originating in Rome, Pope said the suits his firm is proposing would be single-plaintiff suits.
“We don’t have any formal agreement with (Canton) at this point, and we’ve talked to the county as well. We hope to have (an agreement). We think it’s important that the city and county join in to help lead this fight, but we’re not representing them at this point,” Pope said.
Hasty Pope, with the help of an Athens law firm, is already representing a list of 22 municipalities, counties and hospital authorities in similar suits in federal court. According to a draft of a suit filed by the Canton law office on behalf of Hall County, complaints against defendants are similar to those in the Rome class action – negligence, public nuisance, violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, deceptive trade practices and others – but Pope said these individual suits are more appropriate than class actions and may have a better chance of standing up in court.
Pope said while a class action allows a group of plaintiffs to charge defendants with a list of similar complaints, the opioid epidemic has affected different communities to different extents, and the individual needs of those communities will be better represented with individual claims. In addition, the individual suits allow the firm to initiate in those governments’ home courts, he said. Pope also added that class actions require an analysis of several factors by the courts to determine whether they are appropriate as a class, inviting greater chance of those suits’ failure.
Cherokee County Commission Chair Buzz Ahrens said though the county has rejected a few other offers to join suits in the past, the door is not closed to more of those discussions. But, careful analysis of costs, responsibilities and risks must be weighed against the potential benefits of getting involved in such legal actions, Ahrens said.
“There are different iterations and different filings for different purposes with different criteria, so it’s a moving target,” Ahrens said in an interview on Friday. “Jon Pope has met with the county manager to talk about it… But the big unknown is how much is it really going to cost us against what we might get in five or 10 years?”
Ahrens said no decision will be made at the county level until a thorough presentation has been given and the necessary analysis has been completed,” he said.
Mayor Gene Hobgood also told the Tribune on Friday that the city of Canton would reserve a decision on whether or not to move forward with litigation until after officials had heard a presentation on the matter.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nation saw 350,000 deaths from opioid overdoses from 1999-2016, and overdose deaths have come in waves.
Data from the CDC’s website shows that wave one began in 1999 with a steady rise in prescription of opioids, wave two began around 2010 with a sharp rise in heroin use (heroin usage has been linked to prescription opioid abuse) and wave three began around 2013 with “significant increases” in synthetic opioid usage – drugs like fentanyl.
“The illicitly-manufactured fentanyl (IMF) market continues to change, and IMF can be found in combination with heroin, counterfeit pills and cocaine,” the CDC’s website reads.
The many cities and counties filing suit against opioid manufacturers and distributors claim that those defendants aggressively marketed the drugs to doctors and hospitals knowing and misrepresenting the dangers of their addictive nature.
In a statement provided to the Tribune last week, the Healthcare Distribution Alliance refuted these claims, saying that litigation would be better directed at the “root cause” of the epidemic.
“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,” the statement said.
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County takes large drug companies to court
Mar 31, 2018 | Morrison County Record (MN)
By Tyler Jensen
The lawsuit has been filed, and Morrison County is now in federal court with a number of opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The county is accusing both manufacturers and distributors of contributing to the opioid epidemic and its impact locally. Manufacturers are specifically accused of deceptive marketing, while the county alleges both groups are failing to comply with regulations meant to keep prescription drugs from being diverted to illegal uses.
Morrison County Attorney Brian Middendorf informed the Board of the lawsuit Tuesday.
Commissioner Randy Winscher said he assumed Morrison County is not the only plaintiff.
In this specific case, Morrison County is the only plaintiff, Middendorf said. The county is far from the only organization suing opioid manufacturers and distributors, though.
“Other counties have filed similar cases,” Middendorf said.
Morrison County is one of hundreds of cities, counties and states suing the companies for money to help cover the cost of the epidemic to taxpayers.
“What is the timeline on this?” Commissioner Mike LeMieur asked.
Middendorf said it is impossible to say, but the lawsuit could take years.
In its 131-page complaint, the county accuses drug manufacturers of convincing doctors to prescribe more opioids with deceptive marketing.
“Each manufacturer defendant spent, and continues to spend, millions of dollars on promotional activities and materials that falsely deny or trivialize the risks of opioids while overstating the benefits of using them for chronic pain,” the complaint said.
The alleged schemes include coining the term “pseudoaddiction,” for when patients begin showing signs of addiction and arguing it should be treated with more opioids, downplaying the risk of opioids and claiming addiction and withdrawal are easily treatable and deploying supposedly third-party, independent groups to promote their product to doctors.
Michelle Larkin, a representative for Teva Pharmaceuticals, one of the manufacturers being sued, said the company is committed to the appropriate use of opioids.
The company is working to educate healthcare providers and communities on the appropriate use and prescription of opioids and is developing non-opioid treatments for chronic pain, Larkin said.
Allergan, another pharmaceutical company named in the lawsuit, released a statement saying it has not promoted its opioid products, Norco, Kadian and Fiorinal with Codeine since 2013 and since 2003 for Norco.
The statement also says Allergan supports opioid medication when it is used safely and responsibly to provide pain relief for many people.
The distributor defendants, McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, are accused of failing in their duties to “Monitor, detect, investigate, refuse to fill, and report suspicious orders of prescription opioids,” as required by Minnesota and federal law, the complaint said.
It states distributors filled many orders from pharmacies in the Morrison County area, which should have been considered suspicious due to the large amount ordered, given the area’s population and other factors.
John Parker, a senior vice president at Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA), a trade group composed of distributors including all three distributor defendants, said the allegations are wrong.
“The idea that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and is regulated,” Parker said. “Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation.”
The HDA said its members report all transactions to the authorities, not just suspicious ones, and that they have no role in marketing opioids.
The complaint argues the distributor defendants have a duty to not fill suspicious orders, citing a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Masters Pharmaceuticals vs. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
In the case, the court ruled distributors had to decline to ship suspicious orders or perform due diligence before shipping the order.
The complaint also cites more than 100 orders to show cause or license suspensions issued by the DEA to distribution centers owned by the distributor defendants.
Middendorf also spoke about another development in the opioid epidemic, that being Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ statement of support for those launching litigation.
In February, Sessions directed the new prescription interdiction and litigation (PIL) task force to examine the lawsuits and determine what assistance the federal government can provide.
“It’s very gratifying that our own Justice Department, the country’s Attorney General, has supported all of the counties, cities and states that have filed this type of litigation,” Middendorf said.
Morrison County is being represented in the case by the law firms Lockridge Grindal Nauen and Gustafson Gluek, who have agreed to represent the county for a percentage of the damages awarded if the county wins or receives a settlement in the case.
The entire complaint is available on Morrison County’s website: www.co.morrison.mn.us.
Efforts to contact defendants Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, Endo Health Solutions and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals were not successful.
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County debates joining lawsuit against opioid manufacturers
Apr 2, 2018 | The Hutchinson News (KS)
By John Green
Though not convinced drug manufacturers are to blame for opioid abuse in Reno County, the Reno County Commission on Tuesday will consider joining a multi-state lawsuit against those manufacturers to recover costs of responding to the epidemic.
The county was approached several months ago by a Wichita-based law firm asking it to join the suit against several major pharmaceutical companies, County Counselor Joe O’Sullivan advised.
The commission met in executive session about four weeks ago to discuss the suit and then brought it up again in last week’s open meeting.
The suit
A suit initially was filed in a district court in Ohio. Since then, law firms in West Virginia, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, and now Kansas have filed similar suits, which will all likely be joined by the court into a single class action suit.
“You’ve all read and heard about the growing problems in many segments of the country,” O’Sullivan said. “The lawsuit accuses the companies of spending money on marketing that trivializes the danger while overstating its use to address chronic pain, and also lobbying doctors about the safety of using opioids.”
The firms involved, O’Sullivan said, believe a settlement will eventually resolve the suit.
“They’d like to do it by the end of the year,” O’Sullivan said. “A lot of people think that’s optimistic and it’s not going to happen, but in the event Reno County wants to participate, it’s important to do it sooner than later.”
The suit to be filed in federal court in Wichita by the McHugh Fuller Law Group names Johnson and Johnson, as well as some other major pharmaceutical companies, O’Sullivan said.
The petition, which is 155 pages long, accuses the manufacturers of engaging in false and deceptive practices in their marketing, that the companies engaged in “unlawful distribution,” and that they “failed to prevent diversion” of the drugs.
Alternative theories, O’Sullivan said, are that the companies have created a public nuisance and that they are engaged in racketeering.
Joining the suit, O’Sullivan said, will cost the county nothing, win or lose.
Under the contract, the law firm will split any money awarded between the participating parties after taking off 30 percent of the total gross recovery, less costs and expenses of the suit. If the court awards attorney fees, the law firm will take whichever is greater, the awarded fees or an amount equaling 30 percent.
What losses?
“I asked the attorney what proof they have to have that Reno County was damaged by this type of activity,” O’Sullivan told the commission. “Many are not damages suffered by the county, but they include treatment care costs, education costs of children not cared for, damages as a result of incarceration, shoplifting, long-term rehabilitation costs, and public awareness costs to teach physicians and children the dangers of opioids.”
There are also emergency response costs, hospitals costs, administrative costs for the county and departments that deal with the issue, law enforcement costs, and lost revenues.
“There is no statistical information I’m aware of by which Reno County could claim damages,” O’Sullivan said.
The law firm filing the suit will develop a “damages model” that would be used by each participant in the suit to determine their share of damages.
“Ostensibly, everyone in the country who shares in the consequences would get a settlement, such as was achieved in the tobacco case,” O’Sullivan said. “I don’t know what the criteria will be (to allocate any settlement.)”
If it participated and received an award, Reno County would not be obligated to use the money for any specific purpose, O’Sullivan said.
“We could use it for any purpose we wanted,” he said.
Reno County Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton also addressed the commission on the opioid issue.
“I’m here to tell you there is a drug problem in Reno, but not to influence your decision on whether to join the lawsuit,” Stanton said.
Hard to place blame...
He attended a conference recently where the issue was discussed, and learned “a large percentage of what we see now, as far are overdoses, are not directly the result of legally manufactured drugs themselves,” Stanton said.
“We’re receiving into this country shipments of fentanyl from Mexico the Middle East and China,” he said. “These are much more powerful – 50 to 100 times more powerful – than the narcotic drugs lawfully being manufactured. In many cases, people are pressing these into pills that look like prescription narcotics.”
There was a case recently, he said, in which investigators believed they had seized oxycodone pills, but a lab analysis showed them to be fentanyl.
The lasts
“The problem is, if you look at the 64,000 overdose deaths in 2016, you have to look at what drugs were used and whether they were actually manufactured from the defendant companies or produced in clandestine labs.”
Stanton pointed out that the Wichita petition references instances where manufacturers have been fined for not addressing the diversion issue.
The ways people are diverting the pills, he said, include teens taking them from their parents or grandparent’s medicine cabinets, pharmacy burglaries and “doctor shopping.” The latter issue has been about the only one that can be directly addressed, by physicians sharing names of patients prescribed opioids.
“The point I want to make is basically I’m not sure how you relate damages that might be incurred by the county to drug manufacturers, given the influx of drugs from outside,” Stanton said. “I’m sure there’s an amount of greed involved by some manufacturers and distributors... but I’m not sure how a lawsuit can attribute the problems we have in Reno County.”
O’Sullivan, responding to a question from the commission, said the law firm had invited at least 16 municipalities to join the suit, but only a couple have entered so far.
... But why not?
“I don’t like this kind of lawsuit personally, to try to pin financial responsibility on manufacturers,” Commissioner Dan Deming said. “Though they share some portion of the blame for the overall opioid crisis, if we don’t have any costs to pursue...”
If there’s going to be a settlement “somewhere down the line,” however, Deming said, “shouldn’t we be a part of it?”
“It is low hanging fruit,” O’Sullivan replied.
“Do we want to wake up in three years and find out counties that joined are getting $500,000 and we did not?” Deming asked. “Do we have an obligation to get involved if there’s any chance taxpayers will be reimbursed for costs that are out there? How do we defend not being a part of it, quite frankly?”
“I guess I agree with you Dan,” said Commissioner Bob Bush. “I don’t mean to be too much of a Boy Scout. I’m not a fan of participating in things that don’t fit us. But the point has been made we have significant costs in the community through law enforcement and the hospital system, through the DA’s office and their resources. There are costs incurred, and if we paint with a broad enough brush, we can fit within the lawsuit, so I support that we join it.”
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Cochise County to Join Lawsuit Against Opioid Makers
Apr 2, 2018 | Arizona Public Media (AZ)
By Zachary Ziegler
Cochise County Supervisors voted in favor of joining hundreds of other city, county and state governments in mass action litigation against companies that make opioid medications.
"There's no question that the people involved here, the manufacturers and distributors, knew exactly what was going to happen to us," said County Attorney Brian McIntyre. "Quite frankly, they have killed enough of my citizens here, and I'm just tired of it. It has to end."
The suit claims manufacturers deliberately deceived patients and doctors into thinking opioids were a non-addictive and safe treatment for long-term pain management.
A release from the county states that 800 people died in the county due to opioid addiction during an eight-month timeframe, and that the county spends hundreds of thousands of dollars annually because of opioid abuse through legal costs, social services and medical expenses.
McIntyre said part of the county's illicit drug problems started with prescription opioids.
"I can't tell you that I've ever met a heroin addict here that didn't start with pills," he said. "And so, at least in my head, all of our heroin problem is attributable to the prescription narcotic problem."
Law firm Keller and Rohrback will act as outside counsel in the matter. The firm will take its payment from any financial awards that come if the county wins the case.
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Mar 31, 2018 | Grand Rapids, MI
By WXMI (Fox)
Video Link :http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957553?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331
Rough Transcript: the city of grand rapids. now one of more than 60 comunities acros the country. filing suit against major pharmaceutical companies. claiming they are responsible for the opioid epidemic. our dana chicklas takes a closer look at those alegations. chris hastings/wmu cooley law school profesor 3:57 'theyre tough allegations, theyre racketering allegations.' in 156-pages, grand rapids city officials accuse 24 pharmaceutical companies of willfuly conspiring to expand the market for their 10:42 PMdrugs for profit, claiming they lied for years about how addictive opioids are, in order to quote: 'push opioids as a safe, effective drug. succesfully rebranded what is esentialy morphine and convinced doctors to prescribe it for bad backs, arthritis, and headaches.'cole y law school profesor chris hastings says this lawsuit has momentum: chris hastings/wmu coley law school profesor 2:40 'they do have teeth and theyre not alone. theyre a group of over 60 municipalities that are filing similar lawsuits that are sought to be consolidated in ohio.' :50 filed in whats called multidistrict litigation, hastings says grand rapids is the 60th in as many as 120 similar lawsuits against big pharma and their role in the opioid crisis. chris hastings/wmu coley law school profesor 3:40 'so just one judge has to get up to sped on al the many issues on this case, rather than 60 different judges.' :46 city officials write because pharmaceutical companies 'prioritized profit over legal duty,' 'by 2012, there were more opioid prescription in michigan than residents.' this harms people and the local economy they write, forcing grand rapids to spend its resources, including first responders, medical staf and police, combating the opioid epidemic. the city asks the court to ensure the drug companies report suspicious opioid orders, and to be paid for damages. chris hastings/wmu cooley law school professor 6:40 'when the first of these lawsuits were filed they were comparing them to the handgun lawsuits, which were rather unsuccessful. and now theyre being compared to the tobacco lawsuits, which ended up beingvery succesful. so its a big batle, but s worth ghting.' :52 dana chicklas, x 17 news. mayor rosy bliss isued a mayor rosalynn bliss issued a statement to fox 17 saying the opioidepidemic is widespread.. and in addition to devastation is causes to individuals and families.. there is a financial burden to comunities. she goes onto say the lawsuit is a way for pharmaceutical companies and distributors to be held accountable for their role in the epidemic.
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Apr 2, 2018 | Little Rock, AR
By KTHV (CBS)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957534?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331
Rough Transcript: all seventy five counties in the state of arkansas are now united in their fight against he opioid epidemic plucky county one of dozens of cities and counties suing companies like perdue pharma and the drugmanufacturing arm of johnson johnson and aeady filed a lawsuits of its own but now it's been joined the case by other municipalities. attorney general leslie rutledge announced last week she will sue three of the drug companies. she claims their deceptive marketing practices influenced doctors to overprescribe pain medication which caused a health cris
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Mar 31, 2018 | Ft. Smith, AR
By KFSM (CBS)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957540?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331
Rough Transcript: arkansas' attorney general is suing three pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opioids. purdue, johnson and johnson and endo are named in the lawsuit. the attorney general says the companies engaged in a campaign of misinformation toting the benefits of opioids to doctors and patients. she also says the companies worked hard to convince physicians addictive opioids should not be reserved for severe cases and could be prescribed for conditions like arthritis and back pain. "these drug companies must pa 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." jo-- the attorney general is suing under arkansas' medicaid fraud false claims act and deceptive trade practices act.
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Apr 2, 2018 | Philadelphia, PA
By WFMZ (WFMZ)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957547?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331
Rough Transcript: monday, a civil lawsuit filed by lehigh county's top cop took aim at pharmaceutical companies... in the ongoing fight against the opioidepidemic. the suit was filed by district attorney jim martin.. and the county itself. it targets 12 drug makers from around the country.. and alleges the companies aggressively pushed highl-addictive opioids.. while misleading doctors and patients about the harmful effects. lehigh county is the second county in pennsylvania to file such a lawsuit.
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Mar 30, 2018 | Seattle, WA
By KIRO (CBS)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957562?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331
Rough Transcript: thurston county is the latest in the area to file a 9:14 PMlawsuit over the opioid epidemic. the suit names purdue pharma, endopharmaceuticals, and janssen pharmaceuticals. they claim the defendants provided false and misleading information to doctors and patients about the safety of opioids leading to the crisis. hundreds of states and counties have filed similar lawsuits. opioids do not discriminate when it comes to who's impacted. that's a new finding from the cdc. more than 63,000 americans died from drug overdoses in 2016. synthetic opioids contributed to more than two-thirds of the deaths. congress approved about $3 billion to fight the epidemic. >> helping with fight the addiction is the principle most important thing we need to do. >> drug overdose deaths spiked by about 20% overall. cocaine overdose deaths increased the most of any drugs looked at up to 50%. in washington 709 people died from heroin overdoses in 2016. about the same as 2015 numbers.
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Special Report With Bret Baier
Mar 30, 2018 | National Programming
By Fox News
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957601?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331
Rough Transcript: last week we tried to bring you his conversation with the health and human secretary about the trump administration opioid strategy. but breaking news forced us to cut away. 6:28 PMtonight another shot. >> the president laid out a bold vision and the first ever bench marks about what the goal is how we will define success here. first, prevention. we need to keep people from getting addicted in the first plate. second, preventing illegal opts and effective treatment for those individuals trapped in the cycle of addiction. >> this is a massive problem. >> shocking. 116 americans die every day from opioid over dose. that's why we approach this as a war campaign. i was out in the dayton area in ohio. a met a 17-year-old girl. her sister and mother died of overdose. her father did. the grandmother died from complications from opioid use. he is addicted. 6:29 PMshe is in recovery and 7 weeks clean and hoping to get her high school diplomma next week. it impacts every community. >> how much should we put on drug makers and the responsibility false across the board? >> there are element of this across the board. the medical profession and our payment system and how we deal with pain. there is a accountability and should be on anyone who conducted themselves improperly or illegally. we continue to work on this. the attorney general jeff sessions filed a statement of interest. the united states is joining in litigation brought by state attorney generals against many manufacturers of these legal opioids. >> there are a lot of element to it. the one that got the most headlines on monday was the president saying maybe we should look at the death penalty for drug dealers who are moving these drugs into this country. that raised some eyebrows. >> yes. he is serious about this. the core message is the president saying, this riser no holes barred approach. use all tools we have at our disposal to the maximum extent. >> the budget for the opioid program getting positive feedback from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
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Mar 30, 2018 | Tucson, AZ
By KMSB (Fox)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33957650?token=82b025ac-75e2-439b-9ce3-28054e92d331
Rough Transcript: cochise county is saying it plans to join a national lawsuit against opioid manufacturers. the board of supervisors voted (unanimously this week to join the lawsuit. it comes opioid epidemic continues to grow. the cities of both tucson and pima county say they )re considering joining the lawsuit. several dozen states along with cities and counties have joined this lawsuit.
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