Miami Files Suit Seeking 'Disgorgement' by Opioid Manufacturers

Thursday, April 19, 2018 | 0

The City of Miami has filed suit against major drug manufacturers alleging they were unjustly enriched by an epidemic of abuse that increased the city’s health care and workers’ compensation costs, and strained emergency services as rescue workers responded to 1,717 overdoses in a single year, according to a report by the News Service of Florida.

The suit names Purdue, Teva, Jansen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Health Solutions, Insys Therapeutics, Mallinckrodt, Cardinal Health and McKesson Corp. as defendants. The city seeking unspecified damages and “disgorgement” of unjust profits earned through “ill-gotten gains plus interest.”

Walgreens was also named as a defendant for its role in distributing the drugs.

According the 134-page suit, the Miami Department of Fire-Rescue responded to 1,717 opioid-related calls involving the use of naloxone in 2016, up from 668 calls in 2015. The city had 641 opioid-related overdoses in 2016, a 20% increase over the year before.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi also is considering filing a lawsuit against drug manufacturers because of opioid abuse. She has decided not to join a federal lawsuit that is before U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Ohio, according to the report.