Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, alleging that the company’s aggressive promotion of the drug helped spark the deadly and costly opiate-addiction crisis.
“Purdue Pharma lied, they misrepresented, they fabricated,” Donovan said during a press conference outside Chittenden Superior Court, where the lawsuit was filed. “And they spread falsehoods, and they made billions off it — and they created a path of destruction that the State of Vermont is still reeling from.”
Donovan said he decided to sue after settlement talks between Purdue, Vermont and other states broke down. The attorney general said he is still open to a settlement, possibly involving other states. But he repeatedly stressed that Vermont has a “compelling story to tell” should it continue to go it alone against the manufacturer of the powerful pain-relief drug.
Donovan said the lawsuit would seek compensation for money Vermont has spent, and will spend, combating the opiate crisis. He hinted his office could pursue lawsuits against other drug companies.
The lawsuit does not seek a specific amount, and Donovan demurred when pressed for details. The lawsuit said the state spent $70 million for opiate treatment programs between 2012 and 2017.
At least 27 other states have sued Purdue Pharma for its role in the crisis, claiming that scores of OxyContin users wound up heroin addicts.
The 96-page lawsuit details Purdue’s marketing of OxyContin and the growth of Vermont’s opiate problem. In 2015, 91 percent of the state’s opiate deaths involved people with histories of using prescription opiates.
Last year, 107 people died from opiate overdoses in Vermont, making 2017 the third straight year of record fatalities.
Donovan said his office has collaborated with other states for several months investigating Purdue in preparation for litigation.
Nationally, Vermont has received some credit for what has been perceived as its aggressive response to the crisis, including the Department of Health’s hub-and-spoke addiction-treatment system and making the overdose-reversing drug Narcan more readily available.
Donovan hinted that those initiatives could strengthen the state’s hand when arguing for compensation from Purdue.
“It’s important to be part of a coalition, [but] we always retained a right to file our own lawsuit,” Donovan said.
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, Police Chief Brandon del Pozo and Howard Center executive director Bob Bick joined Donovan at the press conference. They all said they need additional funds to combat the rise in addiction and overdoses.
“We hope it’s not too late,” del Pozo said.
Weinberger said he believes various efforts to bolster addiction treatment are starting to make a difference.
“We continue to struggle under the pressure created by this epidemic [but] I am hopeful that, after years of work, we are starting to figure this out,” the mayor said.
The lawsuit alleges that Purdue violated Vermont’s consumer protection law and public nuisance laws with illegal and deceptive marketing of OxyContin. The privately held pharma company, based in Stamford, Conn., downplayed addiction risks and misrepresented the benefits of the drug, the state alleges.
A company spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Donovan’s office is partnering with a Washington D.C. law firm, Cohen Milstein, in the litigation. The firm, which is also assisting New Jersey and Indiana in opiate litigation, will receive a portion of any possible settlement.
Donovan said the arrangement, not unusual in high-profile cases against large corporations, will help the state’s legal team. Deputy Attorney General Joshua Diamond said the firm responded to a state request for proposals and will be paid according to a “sliding-scale contingency fee.”
Donovan said he would not take any campaign contributions from the firm, in an effort to avoid an issue that plagued his predecessor.
Donovan said his office notified Gov. Phil Scott’s staff about the lawsuit. Democrats criticized the governor last month for accepting a $1,000 campaign donation from Purdue.
Here’s the suit. Limited portions are redacted, for now, by agreement between the company and the state.
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They make the drug, which is great if you have pain. They are not responsible for people becoming addicted. When are we going to start holding people responsible for their problems? They could choose drug rehab, but do not.
When medical care facilities are “educated” by Big Pharma to prescribe addictive substances to patients in pain who trust their medical professionals, they find out too late that the prescription is addictive. (There are alternative, non-addictive pain relief preparations, but–until recently–less-often prescribed.)
The word, “addictive” doesn’t begin to describe the agony people must go through to alleviate the symptoms of physical dependence: Challenging and painful in the best circumstances and with full medical and social and economic support. When those latter three are unavailable–as most often is the case–THEN people succumb to their addiction, craving anything (including heroin) to relieve those symptoms.
Unless you’ve personally experienced it, or cared for someone close going through it, be very careful how you judge.
When I was the workers compensation officer for the state in 1996 or 1997 I heard a case where a pain management specialist from Dartmouth Hitchcock testified that Oxycontin was not addictive and was appropriate treatment for a person with substance abuse problems. I doubted that testimony at the time, a fact that I believe was represented in the decision. If doctors were saying this 20 years ago, this war will have plenty of damages.
If this was the marketing to the pain doctors of the 1990s, there may be many more victims than we even know now.
Good for Attorney General Donovan on this one. Too bad he has turned a blind eye to the Shumlin Administration and others “aggressive promotion” of EB-5 projects in the Northeast Kingdom “which helped spark” the costliest fraud in Vermont history. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander.
I belong to a few pain groups on Facebook and have read a lot about the alleged opioid problem. A lot of the problem is people can’t get pain meds from doctors that they need for chronic pain. The DEA and CDC are trying to get a bill passed trying to take away the pain medication from people who suffer daily. I have peripheral neuropathy in my feet and rheumatoid arthritis and all the doctors gave me is gabapentin which does nothing for the nerve pain. The doctors are being threatened by the DEA they will lose their license if they write prescriptions for some pain meds. I think it should be between the doctors and the patients what they think will be possibly the best way to be treated. Leave it up to the real doctors….
How many suits are now currently pending? How are these lawsuits being paid for and by whom?
My opinion; seriously why would any new businesses want to move and/or relocate to a state that seems suit happy.
So much for the growing economy, with the exception of Vail, who has no problem buying into our greatest marketable industries. Any guesses as to who might be looking into Jay & Burke next?
Opiate crisis: Not new news – What do the Physicians receive for payment/reimbursements when they prescribe this medication to patients? As it’s been reported as an addictive medicine; why not try an alternative prescription that would be less likely to become habit forming? Are prescriptions still being written now? Even as this article was published today? If so, how & why would anyone in the medical field continue to prescribe to anyone?
Regarding EB-5 it’s my opinion, this needs to be shut down now. No winding down slowly, it should have been shutdown back in 2016 when dockets/files were being seized, no red flags there. Regarding those who have not received their “green cards”, not our problem. Take care of the people who reside here first. When this case is settled, someone should write a book or movie about it.
Genesis, the doctors that give out any prescriptions get a nice bonus from the drug companies which should be illegal
Just curious but how many Tax $ are going to be consumed by the AG office in this suit? Over how many years? Will this be like the GMO label folly that cost us many, MANY big bucks and yeilded squat.
Perhaps we should re-allocate some AG budget $ to the crisis we have in treating Opiate abuse, in part, brought on by Medical Doctors that for some reason didn’t understand that Opiate based medication could possibly lead to addiction.
We are allowing the biggest culprits to get off with no one naming them! This problem start with medcare telling Joint Commission to enforse hospitals and doctors to use pain scale and treat patients pain. The pain scale does not represent patients pain accurately. If you have 10/10 pain, you will be sweaty, tachy, nauseated,and pale. Patients tell me that they have 10/10 pain. They do not! The pain scale is flawed. I use it like a grain of salt. Vermont need to sue Joint commission and medcare for creating this problem! Also, doctor do not get pay by drug companies! We do not get any payment for writing RXs. Now we get a rare lunch. Drug companies are now marketing drugs directly to you without any input from your doctor. Thank the federal government again for a new problem.