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Washington, Greene counties could pursue lawsuits over opioid epidemic

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Officials in Washington and Greene counties are considering whether to follow nearby Beaver County in filing suit against pharmaceutical companies that allegedly had a hand in creating the opioid abuse epidemic ravaging Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The lawsuit filed in Beaver County Court asserts “public health and safety throughout the United States, including Beaver County, has been significantly and negatively impacted due to the misrepresentations and omissions by defendants regarding the appropriate uses and risks of opioids, ultimately leading to widespread inappropriate use of the drug.”

Attorney Robert Peirce Jr., who filed the 83-page civil complaint, said he’s spoken with officials from other counties, including Greene and Washington, about possibly taking similar steps.

“My guess is that most, if not all, of the Western Pennsylvania counties will be filing suit very soon,” Peirce said Tuesday.

Peirce’s firm contacted Greene County Commission Chairman Blair Zimmerman two weeks ago, and they’ve spoken again since. Zimmerman said he and other commissioners plan to meet with Peirce in the next week or two to decide whether to join the lawsuit.

“Everyone agreed that we were open to what they were saying,” Zimmerman said.

Greene County has experienced a sharp increase in the number of drug overdose deaths, which have nearly doubled over the past three years.

“I think it’s becoming a statewide and even national issue to go (after) these pharmaceutical companies for pushing these opioids onto the market,” Zimmerman said. “Doctors were getting kickbacks if they pushed, pushed, pushed.”

On the eastern side of the state, Lackawanna and Delaware counties filed similar lawsuits last month.

Beaver County’s lawsuit alleges deceptive actions or practices; fraud; unjust enrichment; negligence; negligent misrepresentation; and public nuisance, and it seeks compensatory and other damages, as well as legal fees and other costs.

One report mentioned in the lawsuit found Pennsylvania spent $874 million on “health care costs alone relating to opioid abuse,” in 2012, “with all metrics pointing to that number increasing since then.” Fatal drug overdoses in Beaver reportedly tripled from 1999 to 2015.

It also points to statistics purportedly showing a “campaign of deception” by the defendants that promoted “opioids over safer and more effective drugs” and includes statistics allegedly showing “opioid prescriptions increased even as the percentage of patients visiting a doctor for pain remained constant.”

Beaver County’s lawsuit names 23 defendants, including Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Health Solutions, Allergan, Actavis, McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmeriSourceBergen and four out-of-state doctors who were allegedly “instrumental in promoting opioids for sale and distribution nationally and in Beaver County.”

An emailed statement from Purdue Pharma read, in part, that the company is “deeply troubled by the opioid crisis and we are dedicated to being part of the solution.”

“We vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense,” the company said.

In Washington County, drug-related overdose deaths numbered 106 last year – 45 percent more than just one year earlier – according to the Philadelphia division of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Washington County Solicitor J. Lynn DeHaven said a representative from Peirce’s firm contacted Scott Fergus, director of county administration, within the last few weeks.

“I know commissioners have considered it,” he said. He added that “no decision has been made.”

Regional editor Mike Jones contributed to this report.

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