POUGHKEEPSIE – Dutchess County Government 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.
