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Suffolk County v. Purdue New York v Purdue Pharma LP et al is a No. 400016/2018 lawsuit filed on August 14, 2018 in the New York State Supreme Court in Suffolk County, in which New York State sued the Stamford, Connecticut-based company Purdue Pharma LP, which created and manufactures OxyContin, "one of the most widely used and prescribed opioid drugs on the market", and Purdue's owners, the Sacklers[1] accusing them of "widespread fraud and deception in the marketing of opioids, and contributing to the opioid crisis, the nationwide epidemic that has killed thousands."[2] Purdue denied the allegations.

The case

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NPR's WSHU described Suffolk County's August 2018 lawsuit as "rare"—while there are "tens of thousands of opioid lawsuits" in the United States naming Purdue Pharma—the Suffolk County lawsuit specifically names the the Sackler family.[3] According to an October 30, 2017 The New Yorker, there are eight members of the Sackler family, representing three generations, who were serving on Purdue Pharma's board of directors in 2017.[4]

Attorney Paul Hanley, who represents Suffolk County in the lawsuit, said in a radio interview that, the Sackler family "marketed the drug while knowing it was promoting faulty information about it." "[They] were instrumental in developing the entire marketing program for OxyContin, which was predicated upon entirely false science … or no science at all … and because among other things, they have profited grandly from sales of OxyContin."[3][1]

New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced on August 14, 2018, that they had filed a lawsuit "against Purdue Pharma L.P., Purdue Pharma Inc., and Pursue Frederick Company, Inc. ("Purdue"), alleging a decades-long and continuing pattern of persistent deceptive and illegal conduct, whereby Purdue's misled prescribers and patients about the risks of its opioids, including OxyContin, intentionally understating the risks and overstating the benefits of these powerful and dangerous drugs".[5]

Background

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Governor Andrew Cuomo said, "The opioid epidemic was manufactured by unscrupulous distributors who developed a $400 billion industry pumping human misery into our communities."[2]

By August 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continued to approve Purdue's "scientific and medical information it has provided to doctors".[2]

In 2017, "Purdue sold $1.74 billion of OxyContin...according to Symphony Health Solutions".[2]

By 2018, 27 States and Puerto Rico, including New York, U.S. states, counties and cities, including New York City, Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury, had filed lawsuits, accusing "Opioid makers and distributors" of "using deceptive marketing to sell the painkillers".[2]

In July 19, 2017....[6]

According to the NPR, the city of Everett, Washington filed a lawsuit in In February 2017, against Purdue Pharma calling for Purdue to cover the costs of the City's opioid crisis which the city claims Purdue caused through their negligence.[7] In January 2018 New York City filed a "lawsuit seeking $500 million from Purdue and seven other opioid makers and distributors to fight the opioid crisis there".[2] A coalition of 41 States is "investigating the opioid industry".[2][8] In 2016 alone, there were about 3,086 deaths in New York state and over 1,100 in New York City.[2]

Chronology

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In 1995, Purdue Pharma laboratory tests showed that "68% of the oxycodone could be extracted from an OxyContin tablet when crushed".[9][10]

In 1996, Purdue Pharma "began a massive marketing campaign", based on a "unique claim" for OxyContin, with FDA permission, that, "as a long-acting opioid, it might be less likely to cause abuse and addiction than shorter-acting painkillers like Percocet."[11]

By 1998, Purdue's audiotapes, brochures, videotapes, literature and its website "Partners Against Pain", "claimed that the risk of addiction from OxyContin was extremely small."[12][9]

In 2001 New York Times journalist Barry Meier, who is the author of Pain Killer: A Wonder Drug's Trail of Addiction and Death,[13] began investigating Purdue Pharma and OxyContin,[14] then a relatively unknown drug made by a relatively unknown family the Sacklers, who were at that time "one of the wealthiest families in the United States".[11] In an August 24, 2001 taped-interview with three top Purdue executives, CEO Michael Friedman, Howard Udell and Dr. Paul Goldenheim, the executives told Meier that "they had learned of OxyContin’s growing abuse only in early 2000, a statement they also made before congressional committees".[11]

The number of prescriptions of OcyContin rose to more than 14 million in 2001 and 2002 up from 316, 000 prescriptions in 1996. This represented almost $3 billion in sales compared to $44 million in 1996.[9]

Purdue directly sponsored and/or gave grants for over "20, 000 pain-related educational programs" influencing doctors' prescribing in the United States from 1996 to July 2002.[9]

In 2002 during the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Hearing on "OxyContin: balancing risks and benefits", Paul Goldenheim reported that in 2001 alone Purdue spent $200 million marketing OxyContin.[15]: 87 [9]

A 2004 New York Times review of Meier's 2003 book, Pain Killer, described how "For years, doctors who prescribed OxyContin were told that the risk of addiction to the painkiller was less than 1 percent. Only after the drug had devastated thousands of lives was it revealed that this figure, touted as scientific fact, was based on a small study that had no relevance for the general public."[14]

The U.S. Department of Justice investigated the allegations. On "May 10, 2007, Purdue Frederick Company Inc, an affiliate of Purdue Pharma, along with 3 company executives, pled guilty to criminal charges of misbranding OxyContin by claiming that it was less addictive and less subject to abuse and diversion than other opioids."[9] In May 2007, John Brownlee, the federal attorney in Roanoke in rural Virginia met privately with Meier to tell him that his August 2001 interview with Friedman, Udell and Goldenheim, had helped "inform" the DOJ's investigation. Meier and a New York Times photographer met the three executives on May 10, 2007, as they had left the federal courthouse in Roanoke, heading to their corporate jet to go back to Connecticut, just before Brownlee's public announcement of their guilty pleas of "misbranding" OxyContin.[2] At their sentencing hearing in July 2007, Judge James P. Jones of the United States District Court sentenced Friedman, Udell and Goldenheim to $34.5 million in fines, "three years’ probation", and "400 hours each of community service in drug treatment programs".[16] The holding company, Purdue Frederick, which was "affiliated with Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to a felony charge that it had fraudulently claimed to doctors and patients that OxyContin would cause less abuse and addiction than competing short-acting narcotics like Percocet and Vicodin."[16] It was fined "$600 million in fines and other payments and was put on five years' probation".[16][2]

In a 2015 article in the Annual Review of Public Health, researchers wrote that, "Between 1996 and 2002, Purdue Pharma funded more than 20,000 pain-related educational programs through direct sponsorship or financial grants and launched a multifaceted campaign to encourage long-term use of [opioid painkillers] for chronic non-cancer pain. As part of this campaign, Purdue provided financial support to the American Pain Society, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the Federation of State Medical Boards, the Joint Commission, pain patient groups, and other organizations. In turn, these groups all advocated for more aggressive identification and treatment of pain, especially use of [opioid painkillers]."[17][18]: 562 

In 2014, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of the State of New York began an investigation of Purdue's Abuse and Diversion Detection (ADD) Program and Purdue’s unbranded website www.inthefaceofpain.com.[19] In 2015, Purdue entered into an Assurance of Discontinuance with the New York Attorney General.[19][5]

In 2016, investigative journalists Harriet Ryan, Lisa Girion, and Scott Glover of the Los Angeles Times published the results of their extensive investigation into OxyContin, reporting that Purdue had "marketed OxyContin for its supposed ability to provide 12 hours of pain relief", which put it at a competitive advantage over other pain killers.[17] However,"[e]ven before OxyContin went on the market, clinical trials showed many patients weren’t getting 12 hours of relief. Since the drug’s debut in 1996, the company has been confronted with additional evidence, including complaints from doctors, reports from its own sales reps and independent research."[17][20] In response to the series, Senator Edward J. Markey, (D-MASS) asked the DOJ, the FDA, and the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into Purdue Pharma.[20]

Purdue Pharma said in an early February 2018, that it had "restructured and significantly reduced [their] commercial operation and will no longer be promoting opioids to prescribers." Purdue said it reduced its sales force by 50% and contacted doctors in February "telling them that salespeople will no longer go to clinics to talk about their opioid products."[17]

On December 20, 2018 George Jepsen, the Connecticut Attorney General, brought a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma et al.[21]

Notes

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Cortellessa, Eric (November 21, 2018). "Sackler family faces possible criminal charges for role in opioid crisis: New York's Suffolk County sues Jewish multi-billionaire owners of Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin; Connecticut and NY considering pressing charges". Washington, DC: Times of Israel. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stempel, Jonathan (August 14, 2018). "New York sues OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over opioids". Reuters. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Basler, Cassandra (October 25, 2018). "Suffolk County Sues Purdue Pharma Family Over Opioids". Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  4. ^ Keefe, Patrick Radden (October 30, 2017). "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain: The Sackler dynasty's ruthless marketing of painkillers has generated billions of dollars—and millions of addicts". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Governor Cuomo and Attorney General Underwood Announce Suit Against Purdue Pharma for Widespread Fraud and Deception in Marketing of Opioid Products". Governor of New York. Albany, NY. August 14, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  6. ^ "Suffolk v. Purdue et al" (PDF). July 19, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  7. ^ "U.S. City Sues OxyContin Maker for Contributing to Opioid Crisis". NPR. February 3, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  8. ^ NYC sues big pharma for $500M for role in opioid epidemic By Michael Gartland January 23, 2018
  9. ^ a b c d e f Van Zee, Art (February 2009). "The Promotion and Marketing of OxyContin: Commercial Triumph, Public Health Tragedy". American Journal of Public Health. 99 (2): 221–227. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2007.131714. PMC 2622774. PMID 18799767.
  10. ^ New Drug Application to FDA for OxyContin, Pharmacology Review: 'Abuse Liability of Oxycodone.'. Purdue Pharma (Report). Stamford, CN. 1995.
  11. ^ a b c Meier, Barry (June 8, 2018). "Every Time I Thought the Purdue Pharma OxyContin Story Was Over, I Was Wrong: Not only would a previously undisclosed prosecution report surface more than a decade after it was written, but as fate would have it, I would be in it". New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  12. ^ "Dispelling the Myths About Opioids", Purdue Pharma, Brochure for physicians, Stamford, CN, 1998
  13. ^ Meier, Barry (October 17, 2003). Pain Killer: A Wonder Drug's Trail of Addiction and Death. Rodale Books. p. 333. ISBN 9781579546380.
  14. ^ a b Kenneally, Christine (January 4, 2004). "Pain Killer". New York Times. Books in Brief: Nonfiction. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  15. ^ {{cite web |title=OxyContin: balancing risks and benefits |series=Hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, United States Senate |date=February 12, 2002 |title=Testimony of Paul Goldenheim, Purdue Pharma)
  16. ^ a b c Meier, Barry (July 21, 2007). "3 Executives Spared Prison in OxyContin Case". New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  17. ^ a b c d Lopez, German (February 12, 2018). "The maker of OxyContin will finally stop marketing the addictive opioid to doctors: The move comes after the company helped cause an ongoing drug overdose crisis that has killed hundreds of thousands". VOX. Retrieved November 21, 2018. Purdue's decision to stop marketing OxyContin comes at a convenient time for the company.Purdue, along with other opioid companies, has over the past several years faced an increasing number of lawsuits from cities, counties, and states blaming the drug manufacturers for irresponsibly fostering the current overdose crisis. At the same time, the company's profits from OxyContin, as well as opioid prescriptions in general, have recently dropped — OxyContin generated $1.8 billion in 2017, down from $2.8 billion in 2012, Bloomberg reported.
  18. ^ "The Prescription Opioid and Heroin Crisis: A Public Health Approach to an Epidemic of Addiction". Annual Review of Public Health. 36: 559–74. January 12, 2015. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122957. PMID 25581144. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  19. ^ a b "attorney general of the state of new york in the matter of purdue pharma l.p. assurance no.: 15-151 assurance of discontinuance under executive law section 63, subdivision 15" (PDF). Office of the Attorney General (OAG) State of New York. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  20. ^ a b Harriet, Ryan (May 27, 2016). "Senator calls for investigation of Purdue Pharma following Times story on OxyContin". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  21. ^ State of Connecticut v Purdue (PDF), December 20, 2018, p. 30, retrieved January 2, 2019, State of Connecticut, : Superior court plaintiff, : : judicial district : of Hartford v. Purdue Pharma L.P., Purdue Pharma Inc., Richard Sackler, Theresa Sackler, Kathe Sackler, Jonathan Sackler, Mortimer D.A. Sackler, Beverly Sackler, David Sackler, Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, Frank Peter Boer, Paulo Costa, Cecil Pickett, Ralph Snyderman, Judy Lewent, John Stewart and Mark Timney

Category:2010s health disasters Category:Drugs in the United States]] Category:20th-century epidemics]] Category:21st-century epidemics]] Category:Opioids|Dependence]] Category:Sackler family]] Category:Social problems in medicine]] Category:Substance dependence]]

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