Opioid lawsuits combined into massive consolidation

Regional litigation joins that of more than 100 states, counties, cities

Bowie, Red River and Titus counties in Texas are among more than 100 states, counties and cities whose federal lawsuits stemming from the national opioid epidemic are being consolidated into a multidistrict litigation.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder agreed to transfer cases filed by Bowie, Red River, Titus, Upshur, Morris and Rusk Counties to the Northern District of Ohio from the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. The cases allege manufacturers and distributors of opioid medications such as hydrocodone and oxycodone overstated the benefits and downplayed the risks of the drugs to the detriment of patients and the communities in which they live.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued an order Dec. 12 authorizing the conditional transfer of the cases.

“All of the actions can be expected to implicate common fact questions as to the allegedly improper marketing and widespread diversion of prescription opiates into states, counties and cities across the nation, and discovery likely will be voluminous,” the order states. “Although individualized factual issues may arise in each action, such issues do not— especially at this early stage of litigation—negate the efficiencies to be gained by centralization.

“The alternative of allowing the various cases to proceed independently across myriad districts raises a significant risk of inconsistent rulings and inefficient pretrial proceedings. In our opinion, centralization will substantially reduce the risk of duplicative discovery, minimize the possibility of inconsistent pretrial obligations, and prevent conflicting rulings on pretrial motions.”

With all cases being managed by a single court, the defendants, which include global pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, as well as doctors who served as “key opinion leaders,” will not have to reproduce the same documents

repeatedly, and the chance that rulings in one case might conflict with rulings in a nearly identical one elsewhere will be minimized or eliminated.

The suits allege that Big Pharma and major distributors marketed highly addictive painkillers as safe drug therapies. By allegedly training and employing doctors and nurses in a “white coat marketing” scheme, physicians and patients were duped into believing the risks associated with the drugs were minimal. The suits also accuse distributors of the drugs of turning a blind eye to rising demand by failing to monitor orders for the drugs and refusing to investigate and report suspicious orders of prescription opiates.

The suits allege violations of federal and state laws concerning racketeering, controlled substances statutes and consumer protection laws, as well as public nuisance, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and unjust enrichment. Essentially, the suits allege Big Pharma is to blame for the opioid crisis in the U.S. because the industry prioritized profit above patient health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, prescriptions for opiates quadrupled in the U.S. from 1999 to 2015. The CDC reports that deaths from prescription opiate overdoses during the same time period quadrupled as well.