Lewis County Joins the Fight against Manufacturers of Prescription Opioid Painkillers
Lewis County, NY – Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the nation’s largest law firms focused on consumer protection and mass tort actions, today filed a lawsuit on behalf of Lewis County, New York, against pharmaceutical companies and drug distributors over the aggressive and fraudulent marketing of prescription opioid painkillers that has led to a drug epidemic in the county and throughout the nation.
The defendants in the lawsuit include drug makers 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.; and Insys Therapeutics, Inc. The drug distributors named in the lawsuit are McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., and AmerisourceBergen Corporation.
The county seeks relief in the complaint that includes compensatory and punitive damages for the hundreds of thousands of dollars it spends each year to combat the public nuisance created by the drug companies’ deceptive marketing campaign that misrepresents the safety and efficacy of long-term opioid use.
“Lewis County, like many other counties across New York, is the latest to conclude that drug companies must be held responsible for their role in creating the opioid crisis in this country,” said Simmons Hanly Conroy Shareholder Paul J. Hanly, Jr., lead counsel for the county in this case. “Together, with county representatives, we will work to get justice for the residents of Lewis County who have suffered profound losses.”
Today’s filing follows similar action taken by Simmons on behalf of New York City and 16 other counties in New York. The lawsuits, which were filed in each county’s state supreme court, have been consolidated in Suffolk County Supreme Court and are being heard by State Supreme Court Justice Jerry Garguilo. Hanly was appointed in July 2017 as co-lead counsel overseeing the consolidated New York State opioid litigation.
In January 2018, Hanly was appointed co-lead counsel of the Multidistrict Opioid Litigation, to oversee all federal litigation brought against pharmaceutical companies and physicians involved in the marketing of prescription opioids. Those cases are being heard in federal court in Ohio.
“Lewis County is committed to holding drug manufacturers and distributors responsible for the misrepresentations and harms to society they have caused,” said Joan E. McNichol, Lewis County Attorney. “The defendants named in the lawsuit were grossly negligent when they ignored the impact that opioid prescription drugs were having on individuals and families across the county.”
According to the complaint, from 2007 to 2016 opioid prescription rates in Lewis County more than tripled. At least nine Lewis County residents suffered opioid-related overdose deaths between 2003 and 2014. In Lewis County in 2014, there were 21 opioid-related emergency department admissions, a 77.5 percent increase since 2010, and 35 inpatient hospitalizations for the same reason. Furthermore, 99 Lewis County residents were admitted to chemical dependence treatment programs in 2015 and 95 in 2016.
Apart from the toll on human life, the crisis has financially strained the services the county provides its residents and employees. Human services, social services, court services, law enforcement services, the office of the coroner/medical examiner and health services, including hospital, emergency and ambulatory services, have all been severely impacted by the crisis. For example, as a direct and foreseeable consequence of the defendants’ egregious conduct, the county has paid, and continues to pay, hundreds of thousands of dollars for health care costs stemming from prescription opioid dependency. These costs include unnecessary and excessive opioid prescriptions, substance abuse treatment services, ambulatory services, emergency department services, and inpatient hospital services, among others. The defendants’ conduct also caused the county to incur substantial economic, administrative and social costs relating to opioid addiction and abuse, including criminal justice costs, victimization costs, child protective services costs, lost productivity costs, and education and prevention program costs, among others.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants sought to create a false perception in the minds of physicians, patients, health care providers and health care payors that using opioids to treat chronic pain was safe for most patients and that the drugs’ benefits outweighed the risks. This was allegedly perpetrated through a coordinated, sophisticated and highly deceptive promotion and marketing campaign – including unbranded messaging to evade extensive regulatory framework governing branded communications. These communications, which began in the late 1990s, became more aggressive around 2006 and continue today. Specifically, the complaint details how the defendants allegedly poured significant financial resources into generating articles, continuing medical education courses and other “educational” materials, conducting sales visits to doctors, and supporting a network of professional societies and advocacy groups – all of which were successful in the intended purpose of creating a new and phony “consensus” supporting the long-term use of opioids.
Drug distributors have both the obligation and the tools to track suspiciously large surges in opioid demand, including at the level of individual pharmacies or clinics. The lawsuit alleges, however, that the defendants have failed to use these tools to warn public officials about suspicious orders, which they are legally required to do, or to reasonably exercise controls over the obvious oversupply of opioid pills.
In addition to Lewis County, Simmons has filed similar ongoing litigation in New York State on behalf of New York City and the counties of Broome, Dutchess, Erie, Fulton, Greene, Monroe, Ontario, Orange, Oswego, Schenectady, Seneca, Suffolk, Sullivan, St. Lawrence, Ulster and Wyoming. Simmons has filed similar litigation on behalf of more than 150 other counties and municipalities in Connecticut, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
