One Central Massachusetts town has joined a federal class-action lawsuit filed by Greenfield against big pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors for their alleged roles in opioid addiction leading to a crisis, and other communities are considering joining as well.
Charlton’s Board of Selectmen recently approved joining the lawsuit, according to Town Administrator Robin L. Craver.
Meanwhile, officials from other communities, including Worcester, Southbridge and Webster, say they are mulling joining the suit, which was filed on behalf of Greenfield in December by Sweeney Merrigan Law of Boston in U.S. District Court in Springfield.
Greenfield had joined others throughout the nation in suing for compensation for past and future costs of addressing the opioid crisis, the creation of an abatement fund and punitive damages.
The defendants are Teva Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Purdue Pharma and wholesale drug distributors.
The lawsuit alleges negligence, deceptive trade practices, civil conspiracy and fraud.
Richard Sandman of Malden is one of the lawyers involved in the statewide effort, which is called Massachusetts Opioid Litigation Attorneys, or MOLA.
Charlton was familiar with Mr. Sandman from another class-action case about a decade ago, when he represented 80 Massachusetts municipalities whose public water supplies had been contaminated by the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether. That was a factor in joining the opioid suit, Mrs. Craver said. The earlier case led to $2 million for Charlton, the administrator said.
Now, Mrs. Craver said, the town is examining the extent of damages and expenditures of fighting the opioid crisis. That review would include police and health services, "any issues with our children," accidents, rescues, and injuries to staff.
Charlton had three opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016, according to the state Department of Public Health.
In Southbridge, which had seven opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016, the proposal to join the lawsuit was presented to the Town Council’s general government subcommittee Wednesday. The subcommittee approved the measure and advanced it to the full council for a vote at Monday night’s meeting.
Lawyers from Sweeney Merrigan of the MOLA consortium made the presentation to the Southbridge subcommittee. The firm did not return a phone message Thursday asking to identify other communities that had joined the lawsuit.
If Southbridge joins the lawsuit, it would would use another member of the consortium, lawyers Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor, to represent the town.
KP Law of Boston is also part of the consortium. The firm is counsel for Webster, which had five opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016. Town Administrator Douglas C. Willardson said he recently received an email from KP Law asking if the town wanted to join the lawsuit. Mr. Willardson said the offer is being considered, and at first glance, the town would likely join.
Worcester, which had 56 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016, has been reviewing proposals from several law firms and a decision is expected to be made about joining the lawsuit within the next week, a city spokesman said.
Southbridge Town Manager Ronald San Angelo said joining the lawsuit wouldn’t be an expense to the town, and if the case is settled, the lawyers would receive 25 percent of the money, and up to another 25 percent for costs associated with hiring consultants and doctors to present the case. The remaining 50 percent would go to the cities and towns.
“I completely believe that the opioid manufacturers and distributors have, in the name of profits, done damage to our entire country and towns throughout Massachusetts, specifically Southbridge, by causing a lot of this opioid epidemic,” Mr. San Angelo said.
“There’s been an over-prescription by doctors, mostly as a result of manufacturers and distributors who market these products to doctors,” he continued. “We’re talking about multibillion-dollar corporations who are making a fortune, and frankly, the results of them making this money resulted in a tremendous amount of overdose deaths as it relates to addiction."
Speaking to the need to better regulate the industry, the Southbridge official said, “In some ways, they are more dangerous than drug dealers on the street. I hate to say it this way, but it’s true. They are causing as much of a problem in our society as drug dealers on the street corners.”
Connecticut-based defendant Purdue Pharma responded in a statement Thursday:
“We are deeply troubled by the prescription and illicit opioid abuse crisis, and are dedicated to being part of the solution. As a company grounded in science, we must balance patient access to FDA-approved medicines, while working collaboratively to solve this public health challenge. Although our products account for approximately 2 percent of the total opioid prescriptions, as a company, we’ve distributed the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, developed three of the first four FDA-approved opioid medications with abuse-deterrent properties and partner with law enforcement to ensure access to naloxone. We vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense.”