Pharma companies plan to fight opioid suit
Drug distributor says ‘copycat lawsuits ... are misguided and do nothing to stem the crisis’
The pharmaceutical industry is pushing back on charges outlined in a wide-ranging lawsuit filed last week by Harris County officials, who allege they are responsible for a growing opioid epidemic.
“We aren’t willing to be scapegoats,” said John Parker of the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a trade association that represents some of the 21 companies named in the suit.
The comments came in response to a sweeping 39-page suit filed Wednesday in Harris County court, accusing drugmakers, distributors, doctors and one pharmacist of conspiracy, neglect and creating a public nuisance with the sales and marketing of highly addictive opioid pain killers.
The county is just the latest government entity to lay out legal claims against Big Pharma. Previously cities from Seattle to Newark and states from Washington to Ohio filed similar litigation. Since Harris County launched its lawsuit last week, another city — Columbus, Ohio — filed suit as well.
“We believe these copycat lawsuits filed against us are misguided, and do nothing to stem the crisis,” Cardinal Health, one of the distributors named in the Harris County case, said in a statement. “We will defend ourselves vigorously in court and at the same time continue to work, alongside regulators, manufacturers, prescribers, pharmacists and patients, to fight opioid abuse and addiction.”
The company also pointed out that it doesn’t make the drugs or sell them directly to the public. As a drug distributor, Cardinal essentially serves as a middleman between pharmaceutical companies and drug-dispensing entities like pharmacies and hospitals.
‘We deny the allegations’
At last week’s news conference, officials explained their interest in including distributors in the suit, alleging that they’re the companies best poised to know which areas are most inundated with prescription painkillers.
The number of opioid-related deaths in Harris County has risen over the past five years. Last year 311 people died from opioids, a category that includes everything from the codeine in some cough syrups and super-potent fentanyl to heroin and prescription oxycodone. That number represented an 18 percent increase over the 2012 death toll.
Teva, the drugmaker behind Actiq fentanyl lozenges, responded to a request for comment by noting that it’s working to develop non-opioid painkillers.
Meanwhile, Allergan — the company behind Norco and Kadian — pointed out that its branded opioid products account for less than 0.08 percent of all opioids prescribed in the U.S.
“These products came to Allergan through legacy acquisitions and have not been promoted since 2012, in the case of Kadian, and since 2003, in the case of Norco,” the company said.
The company also sells generic versions of addictive drugs like oxycodone and hydromorphone, according to the lawsuit.
One drugmaker — Endo Pharmaceuticals — responded by noting that it has already voluntarily withdrawn one of its most addictive opioids from the market. The move, earlier this year, came in response to a request from the FDA.
The company has already stopped opioid promotion efforts and eliminated the entire product sales force, according to a representative.
“It is Endo’s policy not to comment on current litigation,” the company said. “That said, we deny the allegations contained in these lawsuits and intend to vigorously defend the company.”
Police take new approach
Before filing suit last week, local stakeholders had already begun taking action to confront drug abuse.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Houston Police Department and Pasadena Police Department have all announced plans to equip law enforcement with the overdose-reversing drug Narcan.
Last month, the sheriff ’s office launched a pilot program offering Vivitrol, a monthly shot designed to combat heroin use, to inmates leaving the county jail.
“We’re not talking about a minor epidemic,” County Attorney Vince Ryan said at a Wednesday news conference. “This is really, really as bad as one can imagine.”