30 California Counties Sue Opioid Companies

CALIFORNIA — Thirty California counties are suing “Big Pharma” opioid manufacturers and distributors — joining forces with some 500 public entities across the U.S. The lawsuits, which will be filed in federal court in Ohio, seek to put an end to the opioid abuse epidemic and to recoup taxpayers’ money that has been spent spent providing social resources in response to the crisis.

“This litigation is an important tool to help us recover the taxpayer funds currently being used and desperately needed to intervene and try to counteract the opioid epidemic,” said Karen Mitchoff, chair of the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County, the lone San Francisco Bay Area county to join the litigation.

The suits state that many of the nation’s largest drug manufacturers “misinformed doctors about the addictiveness and efficacy of opioids.”

Manufacturers named in the suits are Purdue Pharma, Teva Ltd, Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson), Endo Health Solutions, Allergan PLC and Mallinckrodt.

Drugs manufactured by the companies named in the suit are OxyContin, Actiq, Fentora, Duragesic, Nucynta, Nucynta ER, Opana/Opana ER, Percodan, Percocet, Zydone, Kadian and Norco.

The lawsuits also assert that the nation’s largest drug distributors – including Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson Corp. – “failed to monitor, identify and report ‘suspicious’ opioid shipments to pharmacies, in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act.”

San Diego-based national law firm Baron & Budd is among counsel representing the California counties, which include: Sacramento, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Diego, Imperial, Fresno, Del Norte, Siskiyou, Modoc, Trinity, Shasta, Lassen, Tehama, Mendocino, Glenn, Butte, Plumas, Nevada, Yuba, Sutter, Placer, El Dorado, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mono, Mariposa, Merced, Madera, Inyo and San Benito.

The counties are seeking reimbursement of funds that “already have been spent responding to the opioid epidemic; for ongoing costs of continuing the fight, including emergency response, prevention, monitoring and treatment; and for prospective relief to help undo some of the widespread damage that these drug manufacturers and distributors have caused.”

According to the suit: “Past misuse of prescription opioids is the strongest risk factor for heroin initiation and use, specifically among persons who report past-year dependence or abuse. The increased availability of heroin, combined with its relatively low price (compared with diverted prescription opioids) and high purity appear to be major drivers of the upward trend in heroin use and overdose.

“California has been especially ravaged by the national opioid crisis. More people die each year from drug overdoses in California than in any other state. The state’s death rate has continued to climb, increasing by 30 percent from 1999 to 2015, according to the Center for Disease Control. In 2016, 1,925 Californians died due to prescription opioids. This number is on par with other recent years: in 2015, 1,966 deaths in California were due just to prescription opioids (not including heroin); in 2014 that number was even higher at 2,024 prescription opioid deaths; and in 2013, 1,934 Californians died from a prescription opioid overdose.”

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