Hospital sues drug makers over OD costs

Citing the increasingly high cost of treating patients who suffer an opioid overdose, an Arizona hospital is suing more than two dozen pharmaceutical companies.

Tucson Medical Center on Wednesday sued Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Cephalon Inc. and Purdue Pharma, among other manufacturers and distributors of opioids.

The lawsuit was filed in Pima County Superior Court and accuses the drug companies of negligence, fraud and conspiracy.

Hospital officials say drug manufacturers chose profit over patients and created a “pharmaceutical Wild West,” where salespeople persuaded doctors to purchase and prescribe highly addictive and dangerous opioids that caused patients to become addicted.

“This case takes aim at the primary

cause of the opioid crisis: A false narrative marketing scheme directly affecting hospitals like Tucson Medical Center who buy and administer opioids and provide medical care to increasing numbers of opioid-affected patients, who usually cannot pay for their care,” the lawsuit says.

During an 18-month period between April 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017, Tucson Medical Center officials say they saw 22,000 patients with opioid-related conditions, which works out to about 40 patients per day.

The hospital is facing mounting costs associated with newborns who have been exposed to opioids in the womb. It established a special neonatal intensive-care sub-unit specifically for those babies, hospital officials said.

Other costs are related to intravenous drug users who are more susceptible to heart infections and often require 24-hour monitoring because they are less likely to comply with treatment plans, said Tim Hartin, who is the southern Arizona hospital’s chief legal officer.

“Whether they are in our emergency department or whether they have been admitted to the hospital, patients with opioid abuse problems are costly,” Hartin said.

He added that intravenous drug users with heart infections are frequently hospitalized for extended periods of time because the treatment plan calls for antibiotics to be administered intravenously, via a port in the arm.

“We can’t discharge an IV drug user with a port in their arm back out onto the streets,” Hartin said. “We have to keep them for weeks and weeks longer than we would a patient who is not an IV drug user who has this kind of heart infection . ... There are few parts of the hospital, if any, that haven’t been impacted.”

The opioid crisis “threatens Tucson Medical Center in a way that it has not previously experienced in over 50 years since its founding,” the lawsuit states.

“Opioid addiction is a battle between life and death, and the staff of Tucson Medical Center are on the frontline, fighting daily to save the lives of patients and community members,” it continues. “With the demand for services ever-increasing, Tucson Medical Center’s resources are being stretched beyond their limit.”

Tucson Medical Center officials say staff members have so far reacted positively to the lawsuit.

“They are appreciative that we are giving them a voice,” hospital spokeswoman Julia Strange said.

Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association CEO Greg Vigdor on Thursday praised Tucson Medical Center’s legal action.

“It is only right that drug companies who ignored their legal and ethical obligations be held accountable,” Vigdor said.