Creeks file federal lawsuit in opioid crisis
TULSA — The Muscogee (Creek) Nation on Tuesday became the second of Oklahoma’s tribes to sue manufacturers and distributors of opioids— along with large pharmacies — for their alleged role in an epidemic of deadly overdoses.
“Manufacturer defendants have engaged, and continue to engage, in a massive marketing campaign to misstate and conceal the risks of treating chronic pain with opioids,” the lawsuit claims.
Manufacturers named in the lawsuit are Purdue Pharma and its branches, along with Endo and its branches.
The distributors being sued are McKesson, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen. The tribe is also suing America’s largest pharmacies: CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.
“The misconduct of defendants, including their consistent failure to comply with their legal obligations, has led to an epidemic of prescription drug abuse,” the lawsuit states. “American Indians, including the Nation, have been significantly impacted by this epidemic. American Indians suffer the highest per capita rate of opioid overdoses.”
The 90-page lawsuit
was filed in U.S. District Court for Oklahoma’s northern district, which is based in Tulsa. The tribe is represented by its attorney general, Kevin Dellinger, as well as several Washington, D.C.-based attorneys.
The Oklahoman requested comment from all defendants in the lawsuit. Several responded.
“We are dedicated to doing our part as a distributor to mitigate the diversion of these drugs without interfering with clinical decisions made by doctors, who interact directly with patients and decide what treatments are most appropriate for their care,” AmerisourceBergen said in a statement.
A CVS spokesman said the company believes the allegations against it “have no merit.”
“We are committed to the highest standards of ethics and business practices, including complying with all federal and state laws governing the dispensing of controlled substance prescriptions, and are dedicated to helping reduce prescription drug abuse and diversion,” the company said in a statement.
‘Losing children’
James Floyd, the tribe’s principal chief, said the opioid crisis has left so many children addicted or born to addicted parents that the tribe is struggling to care for them. “We run the risk of losing children from the tribe forever when they must be placed in custody outside of tribal homes,” he said in a news release Tuesday.
By 2012, one of every 15 Native American children was abusing opioids, a 60 percent higher rate than for white children, according to data cited in the lawsuit. By their senior year in high school, 13 percent of Native Americans use OxyContin, Purdue’s popular painkiller, research found. In some Native American communities, more than 10 percent of pregnant women are addicted to opioids. “The crisis also threatens our children and communities in other ways,” Floyd said. “Every dollar that is spent addressing the opioid crisis is a dollar that cannot be spent on other pressing health care needs, education and economic development.”
The lawsuit seeks an undefined amount of money to compensate for “the increased costs to the Nation’s health care, criminal justice system, social services, welfare and education systems, as well as the cost of lost productivity due to … defendants’ negligence.”
The lawsuit makes eight specific accusations of wrongdoing, including violation of a 1946 law that bars false advertising, causing a public nuisance, negligence, unjust profiteering and participation in a civil conspiracy.
Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a trade group for distributors with a membership that includes McKesson, Cardinal and AmerisourceBergen, said the lawsuit is misguided.
“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,” said John Parker, the group’s senior vice president.
“Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation,” Parker added.
Other lawsuits
The corporations being sued are not new to litigation.
Cardinal, for example, has paid more than $100 million in fines related to its management of opioids. So, too, has McKesson, according to the lawsuit. In 2007, Purdue paid over $700 million in a federal settlement and three of its executives pleaded guilty to federal crimes.
Among the pharmacies, CVS has paid more than $40 million to date in federal fines, the lawsuit states. In 2013, Walgreens agreed to the largest settlement in Drug Enforcement Agency history: $80 million.The Muscogee (Creek) Nation lawsuit follows a similar lawsuit filed nearly a year ago by the Cherokee Nation. Last month, McKesson, which is also being sued by the Cherokees, pointed a finger at the federal government, claiming in court filings that it was only following the government’s guidancewhen prescribing opioids.
The Cherokee lawsuit began in tribal court but has since been moved to federal court in Oklahoma’s eastern district, a different court from the Muscogee (Creek) lawsuit.