Ohio AG Sues Drugmakers Over Opioid Marketing

Friday, June 2, 2017 | 0

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has filed a lawsuit against five opioid manufacturers, alleging that the drug companies engaged in fraudulent marketing regarding the risks and benefits of prescription opioids that fueled the state's opioid epidemic.

The five manufacturers named as defendants are Purdue Pharma; Endo Health Solutions; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and its subsidiary Cephalon; Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals; and Allergan.

The lawsuit alleges that the drug companies violated the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, and created a public nuisance by disseminating false and misleading statements about the risks and benefits of opioids. The alleged false marketing included medical journal advertising, sales representative statements, and the use of front groups to deliver information that downplayed the risks and inflated the benefits of certain formulations of opioids.

The behavior increased opioid prescribing and fueled the opioid epidemic in Ohio, the lawsuit claims.

In the lawsuit, DeWine is seeking the following remedies, including a declaration that the companies’ actions were illegal, and an injunction to stop continued misrepresentations. In addition, the lawsuit seeks damages for the money that the state spent on opioids that the companies sold in Ohio, and repayment to consumers who paid for unnecessary opioid prescriptions for chronic pain.

In a statement to Cleveland.com, a Janssen spokeswoman said the lawsuit's allegations are "legally and factually unfounded." Purdue Pharma told the publication that it is committed to working collaboratively find solutions to the opioid crisis.  

Drug companies including Purdue and Johnson & Johnson have been fighting lawsuits by two California counties, the city of Chicago, four counties in New York and the state of Mississippi over their opioid marketing practices, Reuters reported.