Sumter County brings suit against opioid manufacturers, distributers

ATHENS – Sumter County filed a lawsuit this week against multiple manufacturers and distributors of opioids, seeking to hold them responsible for their role in creating the national opioid epidemic.

The lawsuit is believed to be the eighth filed by a Georgia county. Sumter County is represented by Athens law firm Blasingame, Burch, Garrard & Ashley (BBGA).

The lawsuit targets more than 20 companies that manufacture and distribute opioids and alleges the defendants misrepresented the addictive risks of opioids, fraudulently marketed opioids as a treatment for chronic pain, and did not follow federal laws regarding the reporting of excessive opioid sales in certain areas.

The case was filed in federal court and is expected to be transferred to the national multidistrict litigation in Ohio regarding the opioid epidemic, where more than 400 cases are currently pending. The complaint alleges that Sumter County filed the lawsuit to “eliminate the hazard to public health and safety caused by the opioid epidemic, to abate the nuisance caused thereby, and to recoup monies that have been spent, or will be spent, because of defendants’ false, deceptive and unfair marketing and/or unlawful diversion of prescription opioids.”

“With this lawsuit, we hope to help stop the opioid epidemic and secure the resources that local governments need to combat it,” BBGA partner Jim Matthews said.

The lawsuit targets manufacturers including Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Cephalon, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Health Solutions, Allergan PLC and Actavis. Distributors McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen are also named as defendants.

BBGA has filed lawsuits on behalf of Candler County, the Candler County Hospital Authority, Athens-Clarke County, Oconee County, Crisp County and Jeff Davis County. The suits are among the first in Georgia seeking restitution for the millions of dollars spent fighting the opioid crisis.

The firm expects to file similar lawsuits in the coming weeks on behalf of other Georgia counties and hospitals.

Information supplied by the law firm in a press release notes:

— Opioids are a class of drugs that act on the nervous system to relieve pain;

— Opioids include prescription drugs such as oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine, morphine, fentanyl, methadone and illegal drugs such as heroin;

— Opioids stimulate the reward center of the brain, making some people susceptible to misuse and addiction;

— Because of their potential misuse, opioids are considered a “controlled substance;”

— 91 people die each day from opioid overdose;

— The amount of prescription opioids sold at pharmacies, hospitals and doctors’ offices nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2010;

— Deaths from prescription opioids have more than quadrupled since 1999;

— Among the 92 million Americans who were prescribed opioids in 2014, 13 percent reported prescription opioid misuse;

— Opioids were the second-most commonly abused substance among U.S. 12th-graders in 2012, second to marijuana;

— 71 opioid prescriptions were written per 100 Americans in 2015;

— 4.8 percent of U.S. veterans report opioid misuse;

— There’s a rising incidence of maternal use of opioid pain relievers in the U.S., which has contributed to an increased risk of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome — growing from 1.19 in 2000 to 5.63 in 2009 per 1,000 hospital births and 1.2 to 5.8 per 1,000 hospital births per year from 2000-2012;

— Georgia ranks 11th nationally with the most prescription opioid overdoses;

— From 1999 to 2014, prescription opioid deaths in Georgia increased tenfold;

— 1,426 people died due to drug overdoses in 2016; 69 percent of those deaths (982) were due to opioids, including heroin.