Are big drug companies responsible?

PORTSMOUTH – Much of the country, including New Hampshire and Maine, is struggling with an unprecedented crisis – people addicted to heroin and other synthetic opioids.

While states frantically search for an answer for their own populations, some are turning their eyes toward big pharmaceutical companies as the source of the problem. Lawsuits being filed indicate that the pharma companies falsely represented their products as safe, even non-addictive if used “correctly” and what we see today is the result.

Ohio is the latest state, suing five drug companies for what they say is a misrepresentation of the dangers of opioid painkillers, resulting in the state's opioid addiction and overdose crisis.

Dan Tierney, spokesperson for the Ohio Attorney General’s office, said the suit, filed May 31, is the second filed by a state against pharmaceutical companies. Mississippi has already filed suit.

The lawsuit indicates that in 2016, 20 percent of Ohio’s population was prescribed an opiate. In 2015, 1,663,614 opioid pills were dispensed, equating to 182.2 per patient in a single county (Ross). The lawsuit indicates that deceptive advertising and direct marketing to doctors, with the implication that the drugs were safe, is directly responsible for the crisis.

The lawsuit, filed in Ross County Common Pleas Court, seeks an injunction and damages from five major opioid manufacturers: Purdue Pharma, Endo Health Solutions, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and subsidiary Cephalon, Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and Allergan, formerly known as Actavis.

In the 170-page lawsuit, Ohio officials allege the company overstated the benefits of the drugs, while underplaying the risks, and that they did so knowingly. They seek restitution to the state for costs incurred by an addicted population, resulting in many deaths and a huge, continuing cost to the state.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), opioids — prescription and illicit — are the main driver of drug overdose deaths. Opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths in 2015, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999.

In 2015, the five states with the highest rates of death due to drug overdose were West Virginia (41.5 per 100,000), New Hampshire (34.3 per 100,000), Kentucky (29.9 per 100,000), Ohio (29.9 per 100,000), and Rhode Island (28.2 per 100,000).

While no lawsuit has yet been filed in New Hampshire or Maine, there has been talk among those working with people who are suffering from a substance abuse disorder, and from state officials dealing with the onslaught of an ever-rising problem.

Justin Looser, director of Behavioral Health at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, has no hesitation about his belief that drug companies should be held accountable for the country’s opioid crisis. He said 270 million prescriptions are issued each year for opioids, enough for every adult in America to have one.

“I certainly agree that the companies misrepresented their product,” said Looser. “Just go on YouTube and look at their ads. The drugs are implied as non-addictive, and something that patients can be on for a long time. Well, 80 percent of people with a substance abuse problem started with a pharmaceutical pain reliever.”

"I don't necessarily buy that the pharmaceutical companies bear all the blame," said John Marzinzik, CEO of Frisbie Memorial Hospital. "A patient needs to take some responsibility and do their research. There is plenty of literature out now about the risks."

Marzinzik said he had a surgery and was given opioids, He made the decision not to use them.

"I was given a jug of the stuff," he said. "I didn't like how they made me feel and I threw them out. At what point should we be saying, I can handle a bit of pain? Are there other issues that make them take a left turn somewhere?"

Looser said drugs like Oxycontin were touted as breakthrough drugs. He said doctors prescribed it liberally, because they thought it was safe.

“Oxycontin was originally designed as an end-stage cancer pain reliever,” said Looser. “Then it was used for people with chronic pain, theoretically for the rest of their lives. Perdue has made upwards of $30 billion. They need to have some accountability, whether on their own, or through the courts. They need to help take care of a problem they caused.”

Tierney said their suit is not only asking for retribution costs to provide treatment. They are also asking for abatement costs for expenses the state incurred other than treatment, but directly related.

“We are talking about costs incurred in the foster care system,” said Tierney. “Half of all children in our foster care system are there because one or more parents are addicted to drugs. We are talking about the jail systems. In Ohio, our jails are run by the counties. They are seeing inmates for crimes and parole violations associated with feeding their habits. The jails are becoming detox centers.”

Looser said he has heard talk of lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for several years now. He said he hopes it happens.

“Even them providing money for treatment programs would be a start,” said Looser. “I think it’s astonishing where we are now and they need to take responsibility for that.”

Tierney said their suit alleges the drug companies knowingly created a public health and safety nuisance.

“We want to them to help undo the damage they have done,” said Tierney. “We believe our evidence shows they sought to change the culture and now they have to answer for that.”

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