Chester County to join lawsuit against drug firms FIGHTING BACK
WEST CHESTER >> Chester County will join others local governments across the state that have filed lawsuits against the makers and distributors of deadly opioid pharmaceuticals, the commissioners announced at an emotional press conference Tuesday, saying the step was another tool in the county’s four-year effort to combat the overdose epidemic.
“We are working hard and smart to halt this crisis at every angle,” said commissioners’ Chairwoman Michelle Kichline in the statement announcing the county’s decision to hire a law firm to press its claims in federal court, seeking to recover expenses county officials contend they have been forced to spend to combat the impact of opioid addiction and its many times fatal consequences.
Kichline noted that as of this month, researchers have concluded that it is more likely that an American would die from an opioid overdose than from an automobile accident.
“What a huge crisis this is,” she said. “Facts and figures continue to confirm what everyone in this room already knows. Opioids — prescription drugs,
heroin, and fentanyl — are killing people across the nation every day. They are killing those that we love in Chester County.”
As evidence of the toll that the opioid overdose epidemic has had on families in the county, the event included the parents of two young people who died after becoming addicted to the drugs.
“I can’t believe I am standing here,” said Beth Perz, whose 24-year-old son Bradley Perz died in December of a drug overdose. “But I am here because I want to fight this fight.”
She fought back tears as Kichline wrapped an arm around her shoulders in consolation.
Also speaking was Andy Rumford of Kennett Square, whose daughter Kacie Rumford died of an overdose in March 2013 and led him to form a statewide educational and advocacy organization, “Kacie’s Cause.”
He urged those in the room to continue educating themselves about the deadly impact of the drug epidemic, and applauded the commissioners for taking action with the impending litigation.
The Chester County Coroner’s Office has determined that as of December 2018, there had been 108 fatal accidental drug overdoses in the county, putting the number of deaths attributable to overdoses in the past four years at 424.
There are at least 17 other counties who have taken similar steps against the product manufacturers and distributors.
County officials say that their costs will almost certainly be higher than others in Delaware and Bucks counties, for example, because the county has been putting resources into the anti-opioid fight since 2015, longer than the others. But despite the possibility that tens of millions of dollars might be at stake in the litigation, county officials declined to put a specific figure on what damages they would seek.
The county retained the law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd to file the civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. The firm is headquartered in San Diego, Calif., but has offices in Philadelphia. It is known for winning large awards in securities fraud litigation, but last year won a settlement of $400 million in a class action lawsuit against Pfizer, the pharmaceutical giant that has offices in the county, which was accused of fraudulent marketing.
The lawsuit is expected to be filed within a month after initial researched by the law firm into the county’s expenses. Officials said that at least two Chester Countybased pharmaceutical companies would be listed as defendants: Endo Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Percocet, which has facilities in Malvern; and Cephalon, Inc., a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceuticals, with locations in West Goshen and East Whiteland.
Although the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says fentanyl remains the biggest opioid killer, authorities say the deadly impact of the opioid epidemic began with drug manufacturers that may have known their wares were addictive, but continued to flood the market to rake in huge profits. They reportedly misled physicians about their nature, causing many doctors to overprescribe the pills for minor injuries.
Perz, a nurse in Paoli, said she had seen doctors giving young patients prescriptions for between 20 and 40 pills at a time, including heavy-dose opioids for minor procedures. “It’s a battle,” she said.
Even though many governments have filed similar litigation, experts in product liability and public health policy plaintiffs face high hurdles to prove drug companies were liable for their expenses. Big pharmaceutical companies are likely to defend themselves to the hilt.
Kichline, who made the announcement flanked by her fellow board members, Vice Chairwoman Kathi Cozzone and Commissioner Terence Farrell, noted the human costs of the opioid addiction crisis in the county, but said that the county needed to recover its expenses to continue the education, prevention, treatment, and law enforcement programs it has spearheaded.
“There is no compensation great enough to cover the cost of the lives we have lost to opioid addiction,” she told an audience of about 75 people in the packed commissioners’ boardroom. “We have devoted a tremendous amount of resources to help address the opioid crisis for our citizens, but this problem is not going away. Funding is needed to sustain the programs, services and additional resources needed, and pharmaceutical manufacturers must shoulder a portion of that burden.”
Echoing that notion, Cozzone said that even though the county valued itself as a home to companies that provide employment and economic benefits to the region, it could not ignore the toll that the opioid pharmaceuticals have had on the community.
“We understand that many of our residents work for pharmaceutical companies in and around Chester County, but that will not stop our efforts to ensure that federal and state laws are followed,” she said. “While economic development is important, the lives of our neighbors, families and friends are more important. It is the responsibility of pharmaceutical companies to act responsibly in the dissemination of opioids,” she added.
Through the effective actions of the Chester County Overdose Prevention Task Force — which encompasses leaders in health, drug addiction and law enforcement — the county officials said Tuesday that it can claim one of the most comprehensive antiopioid initiatives in the state.
Actions related to the task force include distribution of Naloxone to every municipal police department in the county, and other first responders as well as individuals and community organizations; the creation of a program that provides support and direct links to treatment in emergency rooms to victims of an overdose; widespread medication drop box sites; and continuing opioid education events for health care providers, other professionals and community organizations and the general public.
Another event borne out of the county’s Overdose Prevention Task Force is the Chester County Color 5K, an annual event which has helped to raise awareness of the crisis and more than $100,000 over three years, as well as reduce the stigma of being associated with opioid addiction.
Farrell noted that while five years ago it would not have been unusual for someone to acknowledge being affected by the crisis, the numbers of those knowing some who had died of an overdose would now be “100 percent.”
“It is alarming to see that this has become a crisis that spans generations and that has no socioeconomic boundaries,” he said. “The prevalence of opioid-based drugs throughout our community, throughout the region, the state and the nation is evident in the loss of children, young adults, parents and even grandparents.
“We want to stem the tide of devastating loss, and this litigation is yet another tool that we’re using to help us find a solution to the crisis,” Farrell proclaimed.