POUGHKEEPSIE – Dutchess
County Government has filed a lawsuit against 11 pharmaceutical companies
for “the aggressive and fraudulent marketing” of prescription
opioid painkillers which the county alleges has fueled the opioid drug
addiction and overdose epidemic in the county and around the country.
The civil action lawsuit was filed in Dutchess County State Supreme Court.
Dutchess is the latest county to file such a suit, following Broome, Erie,
Orange, Sullivan and Suffolk counties.
“The opioid and heroin epidemic is the public health crisis of our
lifetime and Dutchess County has lost far too many lives to this scourge,”
said County Executive Marcus Molinaro. “It is time drug companies
acknowledge the devastating damage, take responsibility for their deceptive
marketing practices, and be held accountable for misrepresenting the dangers
of these addictive painkillers.”
The state Health Department reported 805 opioid-related emergency room
admissions in Dutchess County in 2014, up 45 percent from 2010. From 2003
through 2014, 256 county residents have died from opioids.
The lawsuit alleges the pharmaceutical companies engaged in deceptive
marketing campaigns that misrepresented the safety and efficacy of long-term
opioid use, creating false perceptions in the minds of physicians, patients,
health care providers and health care payors that using opioids to treat
chronic pain was safe for most patients and the benefits of the opioid
drugs outweighed the risks.
The suit maintains evidence exists that opioid drugs are ineffective to
treat chronic pain, can actually worsen patients’ health and are
highly addictive and dangerous.
County Legislature Chairman Dale Borchert supports the lawsuit. “The
companies that are responsible for the aggressive and misleading effort
to peddle opioids made a conscious decision to put profits ahead of the
well-being of people,” he said.
The suit seeks relief including compensatory and punitive damages for
the tax dollars spent each year to combat this public health crisis. Simmons
Hanly Conroy, a national law firm, is working with the county attorney’s
office to prosecute the case.
