Nassau County Sues Drugmakers Over Opioid Epidemic
13 Juin 2017 - 1:48AM
Dow Jones News
By Joseph De Avila
Nassau County filed a lawsuit Monday against several
pharmaceutical companies, alleging their prescription painkillers
helped fuel the opioid epidemic that costs the county millions of
dollars annually to combat.
The complaint, filed in Nassau County Supreme Court, targets
several companies including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.,
Purdue Pharma LP and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. The defendants
also include drug distributors and doctors.
"We firmly believe the allegations in this lawsuit are both
legally and factually unfounded," a spokeswoman for Janssen
Pharmaceuticals said.
A spokesman for Purdue Pharma said the company shares the
concerns of public officials regarding the opioid crisis and is
committed to finding collaborative solutions. A spokeswoman for
Teva echoed those remarks.
"Teva is committed to the appropriate promotion and use of
opioids," the Teva spokeswoman said.
Nassau is the latest municipality to take aim at drugmakers.
States and the federal government have previously pursued legal
action against Purdue, alleging improper marketing of the
painkiller OxyContin, and won settlements from the company.
Purdue Frederick Co., an affiliate of Purdue Pharma, and three
of its executives pleaded guilty in 2007 in federal court to
criminal charges of misleading the public about the addictive
qualities of OxyContin. The company and executives paid more than
$634.5 million in penalties
Some cities and counties have pursued lawsuits against broader
groups of opioid painkiller makers. Ohio filed a similar suit
against five drug companies in May.
Attorneys for Nassau County said in the lawsuit that the Long
Island county, with a population of about 1.4 million, has had to
invest in health care and law enforcement as a result of the opioid
addiction epidemic, and pay for training seminars for the overdose
antidote naloxone.
"The opioid crisis is costing taxpayers millions of dollars a
year, and this action seeks to recoup dollars for important
awareness, education, enforcement and treatment initiatives to
combat the war on drug abuse and addiction," said Nassau County
Executive Edward Mangano. The county is seeking compensatory and
punitive damages.
On Long Island, nearly 500 people died from opioid overdoses
last year, the highest number of deaths to date.
Suffolk County, also on Long Island, along with Sullivan and
Orange counties are among the New York municipalities that have
also taken legal action against the pharmaceutical industry. The
state of Ohio, the city of Chicago and counties in California have
also launched litigation.
More than 33,000 people died in 2015 from opioid overdoses,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up
nearly 16% from the year before.
In addition to incurring costs related to the opioid epidemic,
Nassau County alleged that all the companies named in its lawsuit
used deceptive marketing tactics to "convince doctors and patients
that the benefits of using opioids to treat chronic pain outweighed
the risks and that opioids could be used safely by most
patients."
The lawsuit also accuses the opioid distributors of negligence
for failing to exercise care in the distribution of the drug.
Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 12, 2017 19:33 ET (23:33 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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