Anne Arundel First MD County To Sue Doctors, Opioid Makers

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Anne Arundel County is the first county in Maryland to sue the makers and distributors of opioids, along with local doctors whom authorities allege over-prescribe the highly addictive drugs that have been cited as a gateway to the abuse of heroin and other narcotics.

“Misleading and deceptive marketing practices and unethical prescribing practices have accelerated the opioid addiction epidemic in Anne Arundel County,” said County Executive Steve Schuh on Thursday. “Those who have had a hand in this epidemic must be held accountable.”

Despite record investments in education, prevention, and public safety, the opioid crisis in Anne Arundel has steadily gotten worse in recent years, he said. In the first quarter of 2016, drug and alcohol overdose deaths increased more in the county than any other Maryland jurisdiction. Anne Arundel’s opioid prescription rate remains above the national average and nearly three times higher than in 1999.

Police spokesman Lt. Ryan Frashure said that Anne Arundel County has so far noted 1,087 overdoses in 2017, with 154 of those fatalities. About 25 cases for the year are still pending a final determination as an overdose death as police wait for toxicology results from the state medical examiner's office.

In comparison, in 2016 the county tallied a total of 934 drug overdoses in 2016, and 119 of those were fatalities, Frashure told Patch.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in 2016 there were 2,044 drug overdose deaths in Maryland, a rate of 33.2 deaths per 100,000 residents.

Defendants in the county's lawsuit include manufacturers Purdue Pharma, Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Insys Therapeutics, and Janssen Pharmaceauticals; the companies make Oxycontin, Percocet and Fentanyl. Local physicians William Tham, M.D. of Annapolis, Kofi Shaw-Taylor, M.D., Jackie Syme, M.D. of Gambrills, and Lawrence Vidaver, M.D., of Glen Burnie, and their practices, are also named defendants in the lawsuit.

The Capital-Gazette reports Shaw-Taylor has been indicted as the physician who ran Starlife Wellness Center in Glen Burnie, a reputed "pill mill."

Legal claims against the parties include:

• Public nuisance claims
• False Claims Act claims
• Maryland Consumer Protection Act claims
• Fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation claims
• Unjust enrichment claims
• Gross negligence and negligence claims

The lawsuit will be litigated by Motley Rice, LLC law firm, who will work on a contingency fee basis so there are no immediate costs to taxpayers. Motley Rice will only get paid if the suit recovers money.

Among a growing number in Maryland, Jenna Keefer has struggled with drug addiction, but told Capital News Service in October she was clean and sober after going through the county's "Safe Station" program. In April, Anne Arundel County pulled together resources to create a multidisciplinary effort, opening up police and fire stations in the county to anyone seeking treatment for drug addiction. It teams up law enforcement, the state's attorney's office and a 24-hour crisis team.

The safe station program has already helped at least 186 county residents, according to county police. As of the end of September, 63 percent of those residents had either completed treatment, were still in it, or opted for outpatient services. Police also say there have been over 300 total visits to the stations since its creation.

"After the first month we had more than anticipated, but then from then on it's just kind of exploded," said Jen Corbin, who leads the county's Crisis Response Team. The 24-7 unit gets a call from the fire or police station once someone shows up. They help with the next steps toward treatment.

The latest fatal overdose count by state health officials shows that while prescription drug overdose deaths are down across Maryland and heroin fatalities are relatively flat in recent months, fentanyl is killing more residents than ever.

The rate of fatal drug and alcohol overdoses in the state continues at an epidemic pace — especially for users of fentanyl and the even more lethal carfentanyl — say state officials, who urged users to get into treatment before it's too late. The Maryland Department of Health on Tuesday released data for fatal overdoses for the second quarter of 2017, and the numbers show that opioid-related overdose deaths continue to skyrocket in the state.

From January through June of 2017, there were 1,172 overdose-related deaths in the state, including 799 fentanyl-related deaths. In the first three months of the year, by comparison, there were 550 drug and alcohol overdose-related deaths statewide, including 372 fentanyl-related deaths. During the same six-month period in 2016, 969 Marylanders died from an overdose. (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

SEE ALSO:

• Safe Station Helps Drug Addicts Enter Treatment
• Fentanyl Boosts Number Of Overdose Deaths In Maryland: Opioid Crisis

• Heroin Fatalities Up 185 Percent: Harford Sheriff
• 16 Opioid Overdoses, 3 Deaths In 24 Hours Across Anne Arundel County
• Maryland Opioid Epidemic: New Laws Tackle Addiction
• Heroin and Opioid Crisis Hits Record High in Maryland
• Heroin Crisis: Desperate Families Wonder If Anyone Cares
• 3 Die from Heroin Overdoses in One Day: Harford Sheriff
• 'I Really Like Getting High': Anne Arundel Heroin User

PHOTO: In 2014, opioid painkillers killed almost 19,000 Americans. Maryland's drug overdose death rate is one of the worst in the country. (Hannah Lang/Capital News Service via AP)