Category: Opioid Epidemic

Newtown Supervisors Agree to Opioid Lawsuit Settlement

At the December 12, 2018, public meeting, the Newtown Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted 4 to 1 (Kyle Davis voted no, I and my 3 fellow Democrats vote yes) to authorize Mark J Bern Partners, LLP. and Cordisco & Saile, LLC, to file a lawsuit against the manufacturers, promoters, and distributors of synthetic prescription Opioid medication on behalf of Newtown Township (read "Newtown Township Joins Suit Against Opioid Manufacturers and Distributors").

Three years later – at the December 22, 2021, Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS) public meeting – the supervisors voted to authorize the signing of a settlement agreement with Johnson & Johnson and its U.S.-based Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies (“collectively J&J”) and opioid distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson.

If all conditions are satisfied, the comprehensive settlement agreement would result in the settlement of a substantial majority of opioid lawsuits filed by state and local governmental entities.

Payment Totals

If the proposed settlement agreement and settlement process leads to final settlement, it would collectively provide thousands of communities across the United States up to approximately $21 billion (or more?) over 18 years. Here are some totals I have found from press releases distributed by the defendant companies:

• J&J/Janssen: $5.0 billion,
• AmerisourceBergen: $6.4 billion,
• Cardinal Health: $6.4 billion,
• McKesson: $7.9 billion

Pennsylvania will receive $1,070,609,642.

Distribution and Use of Funds

Municipalities with populations between 10,000 and 50,000, which includes Newtown Township, will receive $200,000 from the Distributors Settlement Agreement and $50,000 from the J&J Settlement Agreement for a total of $250,000.

Attorney fees of 6.6% and litigation expenses will be taken “off the top” of the settlement amount received by Pennsylvania, which is substantially less than a 25% “contingent fee” originally authorized by Newtown. It is not clear how that will lessen the amount received by Newtown.

According to the order regarding allocation of funds:

• The Order creates a trust known as the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust
• The funds obtained and ultimately paid by the Trust shall be distributed to the Commonwealth and its Participating Subdivisions [e.g., townships] only for the “Opioid Remediation Uses” (see below) set forth in Exhibit E to the Distributors Settlement Agreement and J&J Settlement Agreement and the Trust shall review expenditures by subdivisions which receive Trust Funds to insure that such spending was consistent with Exhibit E.
• All funds must be spent within 18 months of receipt except if a Subdivision is using such funds multi-year capital project in accordance with Exhibit E of the Distributors Settlement Agreement and J&J Settlement Agreement.
• Responsibility of Trust includes Reviewing annual reports on spending to ensure compliance with the settlement terms.

List of Opioid Remediation Uses

I’m on record saying “If [Newtown] Township were to get some money out of this, small as it might be, it is my hope that the funds are used to support opioid anti-addiction programs and implement educational programs for the general public and students.” See the video here: http://bit.ly/OpioidSuitPost Thankfully, that is precisely what the settlement proposes.

Exhibit E lists Core Strategies and Approved Uses for Treatment and Prevention of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and any co-occurring Substance Use Disorder or Mental Health (SUD/MH) conditions. See Exhibit E for details.

According to Exhibit E, fund grantees should give priority to the following core abatement strategies (not all are listed here – mostly those applicable to Newtown):

• Naloxone or other FDA-approved drug to reverse opioid overdoses
• Medication-Assisted Treatment (“MAT”) distribution and other opioid-related treatment
• Expansion of warm hand-off programs and recovery services [Such as programs described in the following articles: “Falls and Middletown Police Departments Join the Bucks County Mental Health Co-Responder Program” and “More Bucks County Police Departments Deliver Addiction Help Via The "Supporting Treatment and Recovery Program" (STAR) Program”]
• Prevention Programs [such as evidence-based prevention programs in schools and training for first responders to participate in pre-arrest diversion programs]

Exhibit E also specifies that fund grantees should give priority to the following approved treatment and prevention programs (not all are listed here – mostly those applicable to Newtown):

• Support treatment of Opioid Use Disorder (“OUD”) and any co-occurring Substance Use Disorder or Mental Health (“SUD/MH”) conditions
• Support efforts to prevent over-prescribing and ensure appropriate prescribing and dispensing of opioids
• Support efforts to discourage or prevent misuse of opioids [e.g., like some things the township already does including, public education relating to drug disposal, drug take-back disposal or destruction programs]
• Support efforts to prevent or reduce overdose deaths or other opioid-related harms [e.g., increased availability and distribution of naloxone, training and education regarding naloxone, educating first responders regarding the existence and operation of immunity and Good Samaritan laws]
• Provision of wellness and support services for first responders and others who experience secondary trauma associated with opioid-related emergency events

Posted on 23 Dec 2021, 12:20 - Category: Opioid Epidemic

Newtown Township Files Suit Against Opioid Manufacturers and Distributors

At the December 12, 2018, public meeting, the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 in favor of authorizing Marc J. Bern Partners, LLP, & Cordisco & Saile, LLC to file suit against the manufacturers, promoters, and distributors of synthetic prescription Opioid medications on behalf of Newtown Township.

The Complaint was filed in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas on April 24, 2019 (Docket NO. 2019-03043). It names a total of eighteen defendants (15 manufacturers and 3 distributors):

1. Purdue Pharma L.P.
2. Purdue Pharma Inc.
3. The Purdue Frederick Company, Inc.
4. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.
5. Cephalon, Inc.
6. Johnson & Johnson
7. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
8. Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc (now known as Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
9. Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc. (now known as Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
10. Endo Health Solutions Inc.
11. Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
12. Allergan Plc (formerly known as Actavis Plc)
13. Allergan Finance, LLC (formerly known as Actavis, Inc. formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
14. Watson Laboratories, Inc.
15. Actavis LLC (Actavis Pharma, Inc. formerly known as Watson Pharma, Inc.)
16. Mckesson Corporation (distributor)
17. Cardinal Health, Inc. (distributor)
18. Amerisourcebergen Drug Corporation (distributor)

The Township is seeking judgment on each of six "causes of action" against the defendants in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), jointly and severally. The total damages claimed are estimated to add up to just under $4 million!

Six “Causes of Action”

The six causes of action are:

1. Unfair Trade Practices. Defendants violated the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law because they engaged in deceptive acts or practices.


2. Fraud. Defendants made misrepresentations and omissions of facts material to Plaintiff and its residents.


3. Unjust Enrichment. As an expected and intended result of their conscious wrongdoing Defendants have profited and benefited from the health insurance coverage purchased by Plaintiff that directly funded the opioid purchases made by its residents and employees.


4. Negligence. Distributor Defendants have a duty to exercise reasonable care in the distribution of opioids, as provided by state and federal law, to avoid, prevent, or attenuate third-party misconduct. Distributor Defendants breached this duty by failing to take any action to prevent or reduce the distribution of opioids, as required by state and federal law, and instead participated in and enabled Defendants' misconduct. As a proximate result, Distributor Defendants and its agents have caused Plaintiff to incur excessive costs related to diagnosis, treatment, and cure of addiction or risk of addiction to opioids, the Township has borne the massive costs of these illnesses and conditions by having to provide necessary resources for care, treatment facilities, law enforcement services, and child and family services for Township Residents and using Township resources in relation to opioid use and abuse. Additionally, the Township has suffered lost productivity from its workforce, thereby losing much needed tax revenue.


5. Negligent Misrepresentation. Defendants made misrepresentations and omissions of facts material to Plaintiff and its residents to induce them to purchase, administer, and consume opioids.


6. Public Nuisance. Defendants made unreasonable and/or unlawful use of their financial resources in an improper, indecent, and unwarranted fashion to wage a massive campaign of misrepresentations and omissions of facts, negligence, and violation of state laws material to Plaintiff and its residents to induce them to purchase, administer, and consume lawful opioids for unlawful purposes.

Questionable Practices

The suit lists a number of “unlawful” or “deceptive” marketing and patient and physician educational practices of the defendants to bolster the Township’s case, including:

• Like the tobacco companies that engaged in an industry-wide effort to misrepresent the safety and risks of smoking, Defendants worked with each other and with the industry-funded and directed Front Groups and KOLs [Key Opinion Leaders; mostly physicians] to carry out a common scheme to deceptively market opioids by misrepresenting the risks, benefits, and superior efficacy of opioids to treat chronic pain. [Read “Opioids Are the New Tobacco: Investigations of #Pharma Companies Taking Page from Tobacco Settlement of the 90's”]


• Marketing dangerous and ineffective opioid drugs as safe and effective for the long-term treatment of chronic pain conditions in order to deceive physicians into prescribing addictive opioids to residents of Newtown Township;


• Disseminating misleading statements concealing the true risk of addiction and promoting the deceptive concept of pseudoaddiction through Defendants' own unbranded publications and on internet sites Defendants operated that were marketed to and accessible by consumers in Newtown Township;

• Sponsoring, directly distributing, and assisting in the distribution of publications that presented an unbalanced treatment of the long-term and dose dependent risks of opioids versus NSAIDs;


• Developing and disseminating misleading scientific studies that deceptively concluded opioids are safe and effective for the long-term treatment of chronic non-cancer pain and that opioids improve quality of life, while concealing contrary data;


• Holding themselves out as law-abiding distributors but instead withholding from law enforcement the names of prescribers they knew to be facilitating the diversion and over-prescribing of their products, while simultaneously marketing opioids to these doctors by disseminating patient and prescriber education materials and advertisements and CMEs that Defendants knew would reach these same prescribers, violating Pennsylvania and Federal law by not reporting these doctors instead. [Read “How Congress Allied with Drug Company Lobbyists to Derail the DEA’s War on Opioids”]

The 107-page Complaint lists many more questionable practices and includes dozens of references to support the claims. Download it here.

Further Reading

“Opioid Drug Maker Mallinckrodt Spends Big Lobbying Lawmakers About Opioids”

“Pennsylvania's Treasurer Says Big Pharma Must be Held Accountable for Its Role in Opioid Crisis”

“Attacking the Root of the Opioid Crisis - Pharmaceutical Companies”

“Newtown Township Joins Suit Against Opioid Manufacturers and Distributors”

“Opioid Lawsuit Survey Comments”

Posted on 30 Apr 2019, 12:42 - Category: Opioid Epidemic

Opioid Lawsuit Survey Comments

At the December 12, 2018, public meeting, the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 in favor of authorizing a law firm to file a suit against the manufacturers, promoters, and distributors of synthetic prescription Opioid medications on behalf of Newtown Township (read "Newtown Township Joins Suit Against Opioid Manufacturers and Distributors").

To gauge the opinions of local residents regarding this lawsuit, I hosted an online SURVEY. as of January 24, 2019, 111 responses were collected. Here, I summarize some comments "Pro & Con". To find out percent of respondents in favor vs not in favor, you can take the survey yourself (results to date will be displayed after you take the survey, but no comments) or you can subscribe to my newsletter where the results will be published in the January 26, 2019, issue.

Some Comments in Favor

A total of 7 comments were made by respondents in favor of the lawsuit. Many comments were from Middletown Township residents. The following is just a sampling. One sentiment among respondents was that other entities should also be held accountable:

• “Physicians that over prescribed should also be held accountable,” said a Middletown Township respondent.


• “I support it ONLY if the suit includes KVK. I'm fairly certain that a large number of Newtown Residents are not fully aware that KVK is 'manufacturing' their opioids in Newtown Borough on Terry Drive!,” said a Newtown Borough resident.”


• “As long as Newtown taxpayers are not liable for any fees in the event that the lawsuit is unsuccessful,” said a Newtown Township resident.

Other comments were concerned about the young people who have been affected:

• “Absolutely! We have an epidemic all over Bucks county , wonderful young people taking pills escalating to herion (sic) .. destroying families yes !!!!,” said a Jamison, PA resident.


• “My son has been directly affected by the opioid epidemic,” said a Middletown resident.

Some Comments Not in Favor

A total of 29 comments were made from respondents who were NOT in favor of the lawsuit. Most of these were from Newtown Township residents. 

• “This is a frivolous lawsuit, initiated by lawyers for the benefit of lawyers. Shame on Newtown supervisors for biting at this, and jumping on the bandwagon with other towns,” said a Newtown Township resident.


• “Waste of resources concerns me [see NOTE above]. The manufacturers, with the exception of Purdue, had little to do with misuse by patients or doctors. The potential culprit are the wholesalers and chains to sent huge amounts of opioids into stores and doctor's offices known to be suppliers,” said a Lower Makefield Township resident.


• “Regardless of my answer, There was nothing in your argument clearly defining the role of the manufacturer/ Marketer in the opioid abuse epidemic- to be more persuasive, please add this,” said a Newtown Township resident [listen to State Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s comments below]. “The manufacturer is a piece of a multifactorial (sic) puzzle that leads to addiction- we need our local healthcare professionals- the gatekeepers to these medications to step-up and commit, we need our manufacturers to put programs in place to ensure education to both HCPs, patients and public, we need parents, guardians, family and friends to speak up and take actions to limit access. We need to take real action as a community, not just put our names on a lawsuit. Big thanks to the Newtown police for already doing their part in supporting Drug Take-Back days!”


• “To blame drug companies for this epidemic is like blaming them for cancer treatments. We need to look where the real problems lie. Social isolation, mental illness, physical, sexual and/ or emotional abuse etc. this is where it all begins,” said a Newtown Township resident.


• “This should be the responsibility of State Attorney Generals office,” said another Newtown Township resident.

• “Recent legislation and law suits such as these are making it increasingly difficult for patients to get proper care from their providers,” claims a Newtown Township resident. “This is a huge problem for people suffering from chronic pain. Making their care more difficult and more expensive.”

How Will This Help?

Several respondents wondered how any monies awarded Newtown Township would be used to combat the opioid epidemic. “What costs are you trying to recover?,” said a Newtown Township resident. “I support any monies going towards prevention & treatment,” said a Middletown resident who was unsure whether to support the lawsuit or not.

When this came to a vote at a public meeting, I too wondered how the money would used. At that meeting, I said “If the Township were to get some money out of this, small as it might be, I hope that the funds are used to support opioid anti-addiction programs and implement educational programs for the general public and students.” I also noted that Newtown Township’s “24/7” drop drop-off box could be improved by making it a secure, true 24/7 box that does not require a police officer to be called to open the lobby door during off hours and on weekends

Speaking of recovering costs, I will be attending the 111th Annual Convention of the Bucks County Association of Township Officials on Saturday, February 16, 2019. An agenda item of interest to me is an opioid panel of experts that will answer questions about which Township costs may be the result of the opioid epidemic.

Click here to access more information about this panel plus a long list of opioid epidemic costs that may be recoverable from a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers.

Posted on 25 Jan 2019, 01:48 - Category: Opioid Epidemic

Newtown Township Joins Suit Against Opioid Manufacturers and Distributors

With regard to the opioid crisis, I have said (here) that we can’t educate doctors and patients on the effects of opioids and combat the overdose epidemic without addressing the source of the problem: pharmaceutical companies.

At the December 12, 2018, meeting, the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS Definition) voted 4 to 1 in favor of authorizing Marc J. Bern Partners, LLP, & Cordisco & Saile, LLC to file suit against the manufacturers, promoters, and distributors of synthetic prescription Opioid medications on behalf of Newtown Township (see story embedded at the end of this post).  

THIS SUIT WILL NOT COST NEWTOWN TAXPAYERS ANY MONEY! 

Newtown Township will NOT incur any expenses related to this suit and it will NOT be charged any attorney fees for filing the action. The law firms will work on a 25% contingency basis, meaning that 25% of any fees awarded to Newtown will be retained by the law firms and 75% will go to Newtown.

The following video clip documents the discussion before the vote was taken:

There is no single “magic bullet” that will solve this problem, but putting pressure on drug companies through legal suits such as this one can help call attention to some of the bad players, some of whom are mentioned in this lawsuit.

I do wish other bad players were on the list of defendants. Including those companies who have illegally provided kickbacks to physicians to overprescribe their opioid products (see the “Further Reading” list below).

If the Township were to get some money out of this, small as it might be, it is my hope that the funds are used to support opioid anti-addiction programs and implement educational programs for the general public and students.

Further Reading:

• “Morrisville Agrees to Sue Opioid Drug Companies: 'You've Gotta Be Part of This.'”
• “Bucks Commissioners Plan Civil Suit Against Opioid Makers”
• “Founder of Insys Indicted for Bribing Docs to Illegally Prescribe Fentanyl. Lock Him Up!”
• “Former Insys Sales Reps Bribed Docs To Prescribe Opioids To As Many Patients as Possible”
• “FDA to Determine if Oxymorphone, Produced by KVK Tech in Newtown, is More Likely to Be Abused Than Other Opioids”
• “Pharmaceutical Opioid Settlement Cash Should Be Used to Create Treatment Programs for Addiction Victims, Says Newtown, OH, Police Chief”
• “The Other Cost of the Opioid Epidemic: Increased Taxes”

Posted on 14 Dec 2018, 10:53 - Category: Opioid Epidemic

"Pot vs Pills": Dr. Sanjay Gupta Special Report

Dr. Gupta takes an in depth look into cannabis as an alternative to prescription drugs. He tackles the role of cannabis in fighting America's opioid addiction crisis.

In the special, Gupta meets pioneers in the field of pain management as well as addiction research who believe that marijuana is the next best hope for treating both. 

He also speaks with those who have struggled with addiction including an exclusive interview with NFL running back Mike James. In 2013 James suffered a devastating leg injury during a Monday night football game. He was given opioids after surgery to treat his pain, and months later he found himself addicted. Scared and worried, his wife suggested he try marijuana, a drug that is banned by the NFL and could cost any player their careers. 

I've gotten some great feedback on my survey regarding the role of medical marijuana in avoiding opioids for pain management and for help during recovery.

Posted on 04 May 2018, 01:32 - Category: Opioid Epidemic