DOJ wades into fight over opioid epidemic
County determined to keep case out of multi-state lawsuit
The federal government is wading into the legal battle against prescription painkillers, even as Harris County is fighting to keep its lawsuit in local courts.
The Department of Justice on Tuesday announced plans to file a statement of interest in a multidistrict legal action, a massive case that bundles together hundreds of lawsuits against the giant pharmaceutical companies responsible for making the addictive drugs that are fueling the growing overdose epidemic.
"Opioid abuse is driving the deadliest drug crisis in American history. It has cost this nation hundreds of thousands of precious lives," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.
"President Trump and this administration have made ending this unprecedented crisis a priority, and the Department of Justice is committed to using every lawful tool at our disposal to turn the tide. We will seek to hold accountable those whose illegality has cost us billions of taxpayer dollars," Sessions said.
The announcement came just hours after Harris County official reiterated their hopes for keeping the county's December civil suit in local courts instead of joining the large-scale litigation now centered in a federal court in Ohio.
"Harris County residents deserve justice in their own court," County Attorney Vince Ryan said . "Any delay such as that associated with transferring the case to Cleveland is unacceptable and imposes a burden upon the Harris County taxpayers."
The county's legal claim, filed in Harris County court, targets 21 companies and a handful of individuals accused of conspiracy, neglect and creating a public nuisance by making and marketing addictive painkillers.
After legal wrangling this month, three of the drug distributors named in the drug suit — McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health — succeeded in getting the claim moved to a federal court in Texas. But they're still aiming to transfer the case to a federal court in Ohio, according to legal filings. They did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
“Harris County residents deserve justice in their own court.” County Attorney Vince Ryan
Currently, the county is waiting for a federal judge to decide where the case will proceed.
"We are optimistic," said Assistant County Attorney Pegi Block. "We feel like the case for wrongfully removed and belongs back in state court."
The Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a trade association that represents some of the companies named in the suit, didn't respond to the efforts to move the case to Ohio, but pushed back Tuesday against the suit's claims.
"Given our role, the idea that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and is regulated," association senior vice president John Parker said in a statement Tuesday. "Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation."
‘Substantial delay’
In court papers, the drug distributors argue that a transfer to the Northern District of Ohio would create "significant efficiencies" by allowing the case to move forward alongside dozens of similar suits included in multi-district litigation there. Multidistrict litigation can streamline the discovery process by bundling together similar claims, though the case would still return to a Texas court if it ends up going to trial.
But the county is opposing the shift to Ohio, and Ryan filed a motion to have the case returned to state district court, arguing that the move would actually cause a "substantial delay," according to a news release.
The lawsuit argues that the defendants knew about the addictive nature of opioids but still marketed them in a way that encouraged overprescribing.
"These defendants placed their quest for profits above the public good," Ryan said after filing the suit in mid-December. "Unfortunately Harris County has found itself in a battle against opioids and the crushing financial effect of this epidemic."
The slew of cases across the country have already drawn comparisons to the multibilliondollar Big Tobacco litigation filed by state attorneys general in the 1990s.
Deaths have risen steadily
There's no specified dollar amount in the county's civil claim, but local officials estimated opioid addiction costs the jail more than $210,000 per day.
The number of opioid-related deaths has risen steadily in Harris County in recent years. In 2012, Harris County recorded 264 opioid-related deaths, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. In 2016, 311 people died from opioids, a category that includes everything from the codeine in some cough syrups and superpotent fentanyl to heroin and prescription oxycodone.
"As I said when I announced the lawsuit, these companies have repeatedly placed profits above people," Ryan said Tuesday. "The wrongful removal of this case demonstrates a continuation of that philosophy and a desire to frustrate the judicial process by denying the residents of Harris County the right to have this case determined by Harris County residents in the county where the harm occurred. The 133rd District Court is where this case belongs, not Cleveland, Ohio, where the defendants are attempting to have this case transferred."