By Nicole June
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Montgomery County has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against a list of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and distribute opioids.
The lawsuit was filed Monday, March 26, 2018.
Court documents say the purpose of the lawsuit, according to Montgomery County, is “to eliminate the hazard to public health and safety caused by the opioid epidemic, to abate the nuisance caused thereby, and to recoup monies that have been spent because of Defendants’ false, deceptive and unfair marketing and/or unlawful diversion of prescription opioids.”
The lawsuit also says that the companies aggressively pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids and falsely represented to doctors that patients would only rarely succumb to drug addiction.
“The distributors and manufacturers intentionally and/or unlawfully breached their legal duties under federal and state law to monitor, detect, investigate, refuse and report suspicious orders of prescription opiates,” the lawsuit states.
Twenty companies that market or distribute opioids are named in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks economic damages based on the following criteria:
• Costs for providing medical care, additional therapeutic, and prescription drug purchases, and other treatments for patients suffering from opioid-related addiction or disease, including overdoses and deaths
• Costs for providing treatment, counseling, and rehabilitation services
• Costs for providing treatment of infants born with opioid-related medical conditions
• Costs associated with law enforcement and public safety relating to the opioid epidemic
• Costs associated with providing care for children whose parents suffer from opioid-related disability or incapacitation
The Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) reached out to ClarksvilleNow to respond to the lawsuit.
“The misuse and abuse of prescription opioids is a complex public health challenge that requires a collaborative and systemic response that engages all stakeholders,” John Parker, Senior Vice President at HDA said. “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. Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation.”
According to the organization TN Together, 29 overdose deaths were reported in Montgomery County in 2016 and 15 of those were due to opioids. The state of TN set a record in 2016 with a total of 1,631 overdose deaths.
As of 2016, Tennessee is one of the top three opioid dispensing states based on pill count. Governor Bill Haslam recently released a comprehensive plan to battle the epidemic.
The Montgomery County Health Department, Montgomery County Government, and the Montgomery County Veterans Coalition hosted an Opioid Education Event on January 23, 2018 to address the issue and answer questions about how opioids are affecting the Montgomery County community.
MORE ON THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC:
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