San Mateo County sues three companies over opioids.
San Mateo County sued McKesson Corp. on Wednesday, accusing the San Francisco drug distributor and two other major pharmaceutical distributors over their alleged role in exacerbating the nation’s opioid epidemic.
The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, is the latest in a slew of legal actions by California counties and cities against companies that manufacture and distribute prescription opioids. Three other Bay Area counties — Contra Costa, Marin and Santa Clara — and one city, Oakland, have already joined or filed similar lawsuits in federal and state court.
San Mateo County’s lawsuit also names Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen. The three companies, which collectively distribute more than 80 percent of the nation’s drugs, falsely promoted the safety and efficacy of addictive prescription opioids and knowingly supplied dangerous quantities of opioids while pushing for limited oversight, the complaint says.
As a result, the county has incurred millions of dollars in added costs from the opioid epi-
demic, including costs to the corrections, court and health care systems, according to the lawsuit. The suit seeks to recover damages on the county’s behalf, though it does not specify a dollar amount.
A spokeswoman for McKesson did not immediately return a request for comment. In a recent statement issued in response to a “60 Minutes” segment critical of the companies and drug enforcement agents, McKesson said it is “deeply concerned by the impact the opioid epidemic is having on families and communities across our nation,” and outlined steps it is taking to reduce overprescribing and improve doctor and patient education.
AmerisourceBergen on Wednesday said its distribution of opioid products constitutes less than 2 percent of its sales. The company said it reports and halts potentially suspicious orders and is “committed to collaborating with all stakeholders, including in California, on ways to combat opioid abuse.”
Cardinal referred questions to the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a trade group that represents pharmaceutical distributors including the three named in the lawsuit. A spokesman for the group said distributors are not responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written and that “those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation.”
Attorneys for San Mateo County disagree.
“These distributors serve as middlemen, sending billions of doses of opioid pain pills to pharmacists, hospitals, nursing homes and pain clinics, many in San Mateo County,” the suit says. “Responsibility for the crisis lies at the feet of the defendant distributors who are reaping billions of dollars in profits while knowingly fueling the epidemic.”
Filing the suit in state court in San Francisco, McKesson’s headquarters, could give the county home-court advantage because a local jury would be more sympathetic if the case goes to trial, said attorney Joe Cotchett of the law firm Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy, who is representing San Mateo County. The other lawsuits are unfolding either in state court in Orange County or are being included in the massive nationwide litigation brought by 500 public entities against drug companies that are being handled by a federal judge in Ohio.
Thirty-seven San Mateo County residents died from heroin and other opioid overdoses in 2017, according to data compiled by state health officials.