Geauga County has officially filed a federal lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors to help offset a dramatic increase in costs for law enforcement, addiction treatment and overdose prevention because of the drug epidemic.
Last month, county commissioners voted to file the suit, which alleges pharmaceutical companies did not follow federal rules over the escalating use of opioids by Ohio residents.
The 167-page lawsuit was filed recently in U.S. District Court by Cleveland-based Spangenberg, Shibley & Liber. Lawyers will work for the county on a contingency basis, meaning a fee — calculated as a percentage of any money awarded — will be charged only if the suit is successful.
The suit is seeking unspecified damages from 17 companies, including Purdue Pharma, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Corp. for alleged public nuisance, racketeering, negligence, negligent representation, fraud and violations of the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act.
“The opioid epidemic is particularly devastating in (Geauga County),” attorneys Peter Weinberger and William Hawal said in the lawsuit. “(Geauga County) is experiencing an excessive drug overdose rate related to an excessive volume of prescription opiates caused by the wrongful conduct by the defendants...”
According to the suit:
• The defendants intentionally manufactured, marketed and sold prescription opioids without maintaining effective controls to monitor, report and stop shipment of suspicious orders.
• The defendants’ actions created and expanded the use of dangerously addictive opioids, causing the current epidemic of prescription opioid and heroin addiction.
• The manufacturers and distributors schemed to make billions in illegal sales of opioids.
• The defendants paid nearly $800 million to influence local, state and federal governments through joint lobbying efforts as part of the Pain Care Forum. The lobbying efforts included initiatives to pass laws making it more difficult for the Drug Enforcement Administration to suspend and/or revoke the companies’ registrations for failure to report suspicious opioid orders.
The case has been assigned to Judge Dan Aaron Polster in Cleveland.
Similar suits have been filed across the nation and in nearby counties, including Cuyahoga, Lake and Ashtabula.
However, officials with the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, representing distributors including McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, claim the allegations in such suits are unfair.
“As distributors, we understand the tragic impact the opioid epidemic has on communities across the country,” John Parker, senior vice president of Healthcare Distribution Alliance, previously told The News-Herald. “We are deeply engaged in the issue and are taking our own steps to be part of the solution — but we aren’t willing to be scapegoats.
“Distributors are logistics companies that arrange for the sale and secure storage, transport and delivery of medicines from manufacturers to pharmacies, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and others based on prescriptions from licensed physicians. We don’t make medicines, market medicines, prescribe medicines or dispense them to consumers. Given our role, the idea that distributors are solely responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and how it is regulated.”
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