AG Slatery Sues Walgreens for Unlawful Distribution and Sale of Opioids

Rice said the deal was structured in collaboration with local government officials to avoid a problem that arose with the $246 billion tobacco settlement of the 1990s. Drug overdoses now kill more than 100,000 people in the U.S. every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The settlement will provide thousands of communities across the United States with up to approximately $19.5 billion over 18 years,” the drug distributors said in their statement. Learn more from the Harm Reduction Coalition on responding to an opioid overdose. The U.S. drug epidemic has killed more than 1 million people since 1999, according to the U.S.

On January 24, FDA and the Federal Trade Commission posted joint warning letters to the marketers and distributors of 12 opioid cessation products, for illegally marketing unapproved products with claims about their ability to help in the treatment of opioid addiction and withdrawal. A significant percentage of deaths and overdose from opioids, especially from ER/LA opioids, results from theft of pain medicine from medicine cabinets and accidental exposure to the drugs. Since 2009, FDA has worked with DEA and other organizations to help educate the public on safe disposal of opioids when they are no longer needed for pain.

Thousands of cases have been filed, and the legal environment has never been more receptive. As the true depth and scope of the crisis has revealed itself, our nation has begun to grasp the trauma and damage inflicted on huge populations at every level of society. Our friends, our neighbors, our own families have been affected, and it’s time to correct this great wrong. In some cases, drug wholesalers continued shipping vast quantities of pills to small rural communities despite red flags that drugs like OxyContin were being diverted and sold on the black market.

Timeline of Selected FDA Activities and Significant Events Addressing Substance Use and Overdose Prevention

On April 9, FDA announced harm reported from sudden discontinuation of opioid pain medicines and required label changes to guide prescribers on gradual, individualized tapering. On August 28, FDA took action against 21 websites marketing unapproved opioids as part of agency’s effort to target illegal online sales. Examine the prescribing habits of physicians who prescribe doses of opioids above 100 mg morphine equivalents per day and/or prescribe opioids in combination with benzodiazepines.

USA- Mdedge.com writes that maternal use of opioids both immediately before conception and during pregnancy has been linked to an increased risk of babies being born with certain birth defects. A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology linked the following conditions with a pregnant mother’s use of opioid pain killers such… Read more opioid news and lawsuits… NEW YORK, New York — Opioid drug manufacturers McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen offered to settle litigation with 21 states for the sum of $18 billion paid over eighteen years. Becker’s Hospital Review said that the Wall Street Journal reported the states demanded settlements ranging from $22 billion and… Read more opioid news and lawsuits…

• According to the American Bar Association , the goal of most class actions and/or mass tort attorneys is to settle the case before it goes to trial, typically even before the discovery period.
• On January 24, FDA and the Federal Trade Commission posted joint warning letters to the marketers and distributors of 12 opioid cessation products, for illegally marketing unapproved products with claims about their ability to help in the treatment of opioid addiction and withdrawal.
• The lawsuits also contend that opioid distributors unlawfully marketed the drugs for off-label long-term use for conditions like arthritis and back pain.

On an individual level, opioid addiction can lead to financial train, job loss, damaged personal and professional relationships, and serious health issues. On a national level, the economic cost of the opioid crisis was estimated to total more than $1 trillion from 2001 through 2017, according to a study by Altarum, a nonprofit research and alcohol addiction & abuse consulting company focusing on the health of the vulnerable and publicly insured. According to theCenters for Disease Control, most people who abuse prescription opioids get them for free from a friend or relative. However, those who are at highest risk of overdose get them in ways that are different from those who use them less frequently.

On January 17, FDA approved Vantrela ER (hydrocodone bitartrate extended-release tablets), an extended-release opioid analgesic to treat pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment for which alternative treatment options are inadequate. Vantrela ER is the ninth ER opioid analgesic to be approved with labeling describing the product’s abuse-deterrent properties consistent with the FDA’s 2015 guidance for industry, Abuse-Deterrent Opioids – Evaluation and Labeling. The physical and chemical properties of Vantrela ER are expected to make intravenous abuse difficult and are expected to reduce, but not eliminate, abuse by nasal and oral routes. On March 22, FDA announced required class-wide safety labeling changes for immediate-release opioid pain medications.

Walmart Agrees to Pay $3.1 Billion to Settle Opioid Lawsuits

Physicians and Pharmacies Caused Addiction – Dozens of lawsuits filed in courts across the U.S. allege that “a veritable rogue’s gallery of pill-pushing doctors and pharmacies” caused or significantly contributed to the plaintiffs’ addictions to controlled substances. The suits claim that by prescribing these powerfully addictive drugs, defendants caused the plaintiffs to abuse the opioids and even engage in criminal activity to obtain them. In many cases, plaintiffs lost jobs or wages as a result of their addictions. Nationwide settlements were completed in February by Johnson & Johnson and distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson over their role in the opioid addiction crisis.

1980 – A letter entitled “Addiction Rare in Patients treated with Narcotics” is published in the New England Journal of Medicine . This was not a study, but rather an exploratory article that examined incidences of addiction among a very specific subset of hospitalized patients. This article would become widely cited as proof that opioids were a safe treatment for chronic pain. One of the major problems with opioid medications is their easy availability. In 2010 alone, an estimated 210 million prescriptions for opiates were dispensed.

Manufacturing occurs domestically and in manufacturing facilities owned by these companies in other parts of the world. Meanwhile, in 2019, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay$465 millionfor its role in fueling the opioid binge drinking alcohol, black tar colored stools, blank stare and bleeding crisis. This was the first verdict achieved in a state court against an opioid manufacturer. There are many examples of pharmaceutical companies burying their heads in the sand when receiving suspicious orders.

Government Lawsuits Against Opioid Distributors & Manufacturers

Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world’s media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. A U.S. judge has blocked a California law that sought to penalize doctors who spread “misinformation or disinformation” about COVID-19 while he considers a pair lawsuits challenging it on free speech grounds. There are tentative agreements by CVS Health Corp (CVS.N), Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA.O) and Walmart Inc (WMT.N) to settle with state, local and tribal governments.

Those prescribers will be targeted for educational and informational mailings, and the PDMP data will be examined for changes in prescribing habits post-education and over time. Fentora’s manufacturer, Cephalon, requested an expansion of the drug’s indication to include patients with non-cancer breakthrough pain. An FDA Advisory Committee concluded that the existing RMP for the drug was not effective, and Cephalon was told that a REMS program would be required before the drug could be considered for a broader indication. A Boxed Warning was added to reinforce the most important warnings, and information in the DRUG ABUSE AND DEPENDENCE section was updated. OxyContin’s manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, agreed to implement a Risk Management Program to try to reduce misuse and abuse of OxyContin and issued a Dear Healthcare Professional Letter about changes to the label.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Opioid Claims

Yes, and the experienced defective drug attorneys at Parker Waichman have the knowledge and litigation resources to effectively represent both government entities and individuals against large pharmaceutical companies. Our law firm strives to provide our clients with exemplary legal services based on tenacious advocacy and the pursuit of the fullest recovery. While opioid-type prescription drugs were originally used for cancer, sales of the drugs exploded as they were promoted for use by patients with conditions that cause chronic long-term pain like arthritis. This expanded use led to OxyContin sales exploding from $48 million in 1996 to nearly $1.1 billion just four years later.

Price Benowitz mass tort attorneys have knowledge of scientific and medical evidence allowing them to understand complex technical issues in order to provide effective mass tort cases. Before the trial started, Morrisey’s office announced the state settled part of the lawsuit involving another defendant, Endo Health Solutions, for $26 million. State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said during a news briefing that he believes alcohol poisoning and binge drinking West Virginia’s settlement is the largest in the country per capita with Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen, which has faced opioid litigation in dozens of communities throughout the U.S. 2012.FDA implemented the ER/LA opioids REMS program, which includes voluntary training for prescribers. On September 20, FDA announced the approval of new packaging for brand-name over-the-counter loperamide to help curb abuse and misuse.

Walmart strongly disputes the allegations in these matters, and this settlement framework does not include any admission of liability. Walmart will continue to vigorously defend the company against any lawsuit not resolved through this settlement framework. Dr. Katherine Keyes, director of Columbia University’s Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program, testified last week that the influx of prescription opioids into communities was the main driver of the state’s drug crisis — more than poverty, job loss and other economic stressors. November On November 18, FDA approved Narcan nasal spray, the first FDA-approved nasal spray version of naloxone hydrochloride, a life-saving medication that can temporarily stop or reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, including an overdose from heroin. On August 22, FDA awarded a contract to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to help advance the development of evidence-based guidelines for appropriate opioid analgesic prescribing for acute pain resulting from specific conditions or procedures. “This lawsuit will seek to recover costs and tax resources taken from the City and its citizens due to the bad acts of the manufacturers and distributors of opioids who caused this ongoing crisis,” said lead outside counsel Roman Silberfeld of Robins Kaplan.

The committees will also be asked to discuss whether this product should be approved. On May 26, FDA announced required safety labeling changes for methadone and buprenorphine products when used by pregnant women for medication-assisted treatment of opioid use disorder to ensure providers have complete information about the benefits and risks of these products. Reports of overdose and death from prescription drug products, especially opioids, began to rise sharply, with OxyContin at the center of the problem.

Walmart Announces Nationwide Opioid Settlement Framework

West Virginia OxyContin prescriptions amounted to 433 per resident during one period because of aggressive marketing aimed at a population with a high level of chronic pain. The opioid epidemic has caused immense pain, heartbreak, and untold damage to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Americans. So many people who were just looking for a way to manage their pain instead ended up with a crushing addiction to the pills they were prescribed.

Prescription opiate abusers are now far more likely to eventually develop a heroin addiction than a non-opiate abuser, as heroin offers a similar high at a cheaper price. In 2007, Purdue pleaded guilty to the federal crime of misbranding its drug OxyContin “with intent to defraud and mislead the public.” Purdue paid a fine of $635 million. In 1996, it sold $45 million worth, but then went on a national campaign to convince doctors that it was a non-addictive pain reliever, and their campaign worked. By 2012, this number had risen to $3 billion, with primary-care doctors being responsible for approximately half of the prescriptions. In Charleston, a separate bench trial wrapped up last summer in a federal lawsuit accusing AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson of fueling the opioid crisis in Cabell County and the city of Huntington.

The numbers are shocking and indicate that on average, 130 people died a day because of opioid overdoses. – The manufacturer of generic opioids Mallinckrodt has settled the lawsuit pending against it by two counties in the state of Ohio related to the national opioid epidemic. In agreeing to the settlement, the company will avoid taking part in a federal trial in Ohio related to drug maker liability in the epidemic.… Read more opioid news and lawsuits… The National Institutes of Health reports that, as of June 2017, two million people have a prescription opioid use disorder; another 591,000 suffer from a heroin use disorder. Opioid prescription drug misuse has cost the United States $78.5 billion in healthcare, law enforcement, and lost productivity.

For example, in 2012, there were 793 million doses of opioids prescribed in Ohio, which is 60-times larger than the entire population of the state. In 2010, 254 million prescriptions for opioids were filled in the United States, which amount was capable of treating every adult in the country 24-hours a day for one month. The complaints typically allege the distributors violated the federal Controlled Substances Act by failing to alert the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of suspicious opioids purchases, such as orders of unusual size, frequency, or pattern.

November 15, FDA convened a meeting of the Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee to discuss the assessment of opioid analgesic sparing outcomes in clinical trials of acute pain. The committee also commented on the trial design and endpoints of these studies and how to determine the clinical relevance of the results. On November 30, FDA approved Sublocade, the first once-monthly injectable buprenorphine product for the treatment of moderate-to-severe opioid use disorder in adult patients who have initiated treatment with a transmucosal buprenorphine-containing product. It is indicated for patients that have been on a stable dose of buprenorphine treatment for a minimum of seven days. Also at the time of OxyContin’s approval, FDA product labeling warned of the danger of abuse of the drug and that crushing a controlled-release tablet followed by intravenous injection could result in a lethal overdose. There was no evidence to suggest at the time that crushing the controlled-release capsule followed by oral ingestion or snorting would become widespread and lead to a high level of abuse.