Ohio Sues 5 Rx Opioid Makers For Deceptive Marketing Schemes

The State of Ohio is suing five prescription drug manufacturers for false and deceptive marketing of their branded opioids charging, among other things, that they have falsely trivialized or failed to disclose known risks, overstated their products’ benefits, and targeted susceptible prescribers and vulnerable patients.

“The lawsuit claims that five drugmakers — Purdue, which makes OxyContin, Endo, Johnson & Johnson [and its Janssen Pharmaceuticals subsidiary], Teva and Allergan — committed fraud and other offenses by knowingly downplaying the dangers of opioids, and by marketing the pills to patients who did not need them,” David Crow reports for Financial Times

The drugs the companies are accused of selling also include MS Contin, Dilaudid, Butrans, Hyslingla, Targiniq, Percocet, Percodan, Opana, Zydone, Actiq, Fentora, Duragesic, Nucynta, Kadian, Norco, and several generic opioids, according to a press release.

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“‘Defendants broke the simple rules [of drug marketing] and helped unleash a healthcare crisis that has had far-reaching financial, social, and deadly consequences in the state of Ohio,’ said the lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday by state attorney general Mike DeWine,” FT’s Crow continues.

The companies “named in the lawsuit have been quick to speak out against the action,” reports Jessica Wapner for Newsweek.

“We firmly believe the allegations in the lawsuit are both legally and factually unfounded,” says Janssen spokeswoman Jessica Castles Smith. The company “has acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients…,” she continues. 

“Purdue Pharma said that Oxycontin accounts for less than 2% of opioid analgesic prescriptions and that it is leading the development of abuse-deterrent technology,” Wapner writes. 

But DeWine charged that “pharmaceutical companies spent $168 million in 2014 alone through sales representatives ‘peddling prescription opioids to win over doctors with their smooth pitches and glossy brochures that downplayed the risks and highlighted the benefits,’” reports Alan Johnson for the Columbus Dispatch.

“The companies knew what they were doing was wrong but did it anyway — and continue to do so,” DeWine, a Republican who will run for governor next year, said. 

Ohio is not alone in pointing a finger at Big Pharma for abetting opioid misuse.

“Ohio joins other governments, including the city of Chicago, counties in New York, plus Illinois and New Hampshire, that have gone after opioid makers as the United States faces a damaging addiction epidemic. Last year, the CDC rolled out new opioid guidelines calling for a drastic reduction in scripts,” Eric Sagonowsky reports for FiercePharma.

The Ohio suit “comes shortly after Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) kicked off a probe of the opioid industry’s marketing practices, targeting Johnson & Johnson, Mylan, Depomed, Insys and Purdue. She’s seeking opioid abuse estimates by the companies, plus info about marketing strategies, sales quotas and contributions to patient groups,” Sagonowsky continues.

“Complaints like these are being closely watched by state and local governments around the country that are trying to decide how to proceed — decisions that are complicated by differences in state laws,” reports Richard Pérez-Peña for the New York Times.

“We are in ongoing discussions with attorneys general about what can only be described as a national epidemic,” said Michael P. Canty, a lawyer in New York whose firm, Labaton Sucharow, is advising states on possible opioid litigation.”

In the end, opioid misuse is a story about either recovery or, too often, suffering or death.

“For Christina Arredondo of Frankfort, the moment could not come soon enough. She buried her 24-year-old daughter, Felicia Detty, in 2015 because of a heroin overdose,” the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Jessie Balmert writes in a story also published in USA Today. “Detty was five-and-a-half months pregnant with Arredondo's grandson at the time. She started using prescription pain pills when she was 18, after being prescribed Adderall. Arredondo blames drug companies for how they marketed these drugs.”

“We've got to stop looking at (addiction) like it’s our fault. Because it's not our fault,” she said during the press conference announcing the action. “I did nothing to cause this.”

The suit was filed in Ross County, “a southern Ohio community slammed by fatal drug overdoses,” writes the AP’s Julie Carr Smyth. “A record 3,050 Ohioans died from drug overdoses in 2015, a figure expected to jump sharply once 2016 figures are tallied."

“It is a human tragedy that is ripping families apart,” attorney general DeWine said. “The people who played a significant role in creating this mess in the state of Ohio should pay to clean it up.”

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