Lawsuit Against 14 Opioid Companies Filed By Montgomery County

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — As the costs of combating the opioid epidemic increases in Montgomery County, officials have filed a lawsuit Feb. 7 seeking to recover damages for the use of public resources.

The lawsuit seeks reimbursement for County expenses in responding to the crisis and aiming to stop future deceptive and misleading marketing practices that have contributed to the growing epidemic, County Executive Ike Leggett announced Wednesday.

“The Opioid crisis is wreaking severe damage on individuals and communities throughout our great nation – and Montgomery County is not immune,” Leggett said in a statement. “Just ask the first-responders in our Fire & Rescue Service and our Police. Ask our front-line personnel in Health & Human Services. We are talking about addiction, death, broken lives, and broken families."

The companies named in the suit, which was filed in federal district court, include:

• Purdue Pharma L.P. of Stamford, CT
• Cephalon, Inc. of Frazer, PA
• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. of Israel
• Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. of North Wales, PA
• Endo International PLC of Ireland
• Endo Health Solutions Inc. of Malvern, PA
• Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Malvern, PA
• Jansen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Raritan, NJ
• Insys Therapeutics, Inc. of Chandler, AZ
• Mallinckrodt PLC of the United Kingdom; Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals of St. Louis, MO;
• AmerisourceBergen Corporation of Chesterbrook, PA
• Cardinal Health, Inc. of Dublin, OH
• McKesson Corporation of San Francisco, CA.

“It is critical that we hold responsible those whose corporate actions have contributed to this crisis – for what has happened in the past, what is happening in the present and what we ought to stop from happening in the future," Leggett said.

Leggett was joined at the news conference by Bethesda resident Helen Najar, who lost her daughter Kelly O’Connor to a 2016 overdose, as well as by other families affected by the crisis.

See Related:

• Opioid Epidemic: 'Miracle Drug' Narcan Praised By Police Chief
• Heroin and Opioid Crisis Hits Record High in Maryland
• $3M Targeted at Fighting Maryland's Heroin Epidemic
• 22 Opiate Dealers Indicted In Annapolis Raid: Police
• 'I Really Like Getting High': Anne Arundel Heroin User

Overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, officials said. In 2017, approximately 64,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. — the largest annual increase of drug-related deaths ever recorded in the nation's history.

The rate of fatal drug and alcohol overdoses in the state continues at an epidemic pace, say state officials, who urged users to get into treatment before it's too late. The Maryland Department of Health in late October 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.

The lawsuit in being brought on a contingency basis on the County’s behalf by the firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP.

Photo via Shutterstock