Toms River Hires Firm To Sue Drug Companies Over Opioid Crisis

TOMS RIVER, NJ — As law enforcement, health care professionals and government officials try to find ways to combat the ongoing opioid crisis, Toms River officials are taking a different tact: They have hired a pair of law firms to sue the pharmaceutical companies that produce the drugs.

Township officials announced the hiring of Motley Rice LLC, one of the nation’s largest plaintiffs law firms, along with D’Arcy Johnson Day, a New Jersey litigation law firm with an office in Toms River, to serve as counsel.

“Working now with Motley Rice and D’Arcy Johnson Day, we can determine the most impactful and appropriate legal way to tackle this public health crisis, including seeking to hold those accountable who caused this devastating epidemic,” Mayor Thomas Kelaher said. "In Ocean County alone, the death rate related to opioid overdoses exceeds the number of treatment beds available. We are in dire need of resources to implement a multi-faceted approach to battle this issue.”

“Toms River Township has reached a breaking point related to the opioid epidemic," Toms River Police Chief Mitch Little said. "We have a public health crisis on our hands that has steadily gotten worse in recent years and isn’t going away."

"I welcome the Township Council’s decision to hire outside counsel and pursue litigation against the drug companies. Hopefully, this litigation will bring awareness to help reverse this deadly cycle of abuse,” Little said.

Toms River officials noted the township had 49 overdose deaths in 2016 and this year Ocean County averages one overdose death every two days. More than half of Toms River residents admitted for substance abuse treatment in 2016 — 742 out of 1,284 — were admitted for opioid/heroin issues, and the township had a 51 percent increase in heroin abuse treatment cases from 2014 to 2015.

In 2017, the numbers have continued to climb as fentanyl, which is a thousand times more potent, has become more widespread.

“Too many Toms River residents and their families continue to be affected by drug use and unintentional overdoses,” Councilwoman Maria Maruca said. “The opioid epidemic must be treated like the public health crisis that it is, one that is tearing apart families and communities.”

Joe Rice, co-founder of Motley Rice LLC, said Toms River officials “recognize that they must take dramatic action to bring critical aid, treatment and other resources into the community to combat the opioid crisis."

"We are ready to hit the ground running to help Toms River. It is only through strong leadership and an all-around approach that real change can happen,” said Andrew D’Arcy of D’Arcy Johnson Day.

“The council believes this is a step in the right direction in helping to stem the tide of opioid abuse in Toms River," Councilman George Wittmann said. "The opioid epidemic has touched virtually every New Jerseyan and defies simple, one-size fits all solutions.”

“The health and welfare of our citizens must become more important than profits and market shares," Council President Al Manforti said. "With overdose numbers at alarming rates, it remains clear that we must combat addiction on several fronts.”

Motley Rice attorneys gained recognition for their pioneering asbestos lawsuits, their work with the State Attorneys General in the landmark litigation against Big Tobacco, and their representation of 9/11 families in the ongoing lawsuit against terrorist financiers, a news release from Toms River officials said.

The firm’s team working on the opioid litigation is led by Linda Singer, the former Washington, D.C., attorney general, and Motley Rice's Joe Rice.

"Motley Rice is actively working with cities, states and counties to help combat the opioid epidemic," Officials said. Santa Clara County in California filed the first complaint in the current wave of opioid litigation in 2013, and since then the City of Chicago, the states of Alaska, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, along with Albany County, New York, and Summit County, Ohio, have filed similar litigation or investigations relating to alleged deceptive marketing of highly addictive opioid prescription painkillers, officials said.

Motley Rice is working on a contingency fee basis, with no cost to the taxpayers and they will only get paid if the suit recovers funds, officials said. If the township recovers money, it will up to the council to determine how to allocate any funds.

“Too many Toms River residents and their families continue to be affected by drug use and unintentional overdoses,” Councilwoman Maria Maruca said. “The opioid epidemic must be treated like the public health crisis that it is, one that is tearing apart families and communities.”

Photo by Stacy Proebstle, Toms River Township public information officer