Hide Transcript Show Transcript

WEBVTT PRACTICES HAVECONTINUED.THE STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL'SOFFICE SAYS OXYCONTIN MAKERPURDUE PHARMA OPENED TFLOODGATES TO OPIOIDPRESCRIBING, USE, AND ABUSE.NOW THE STATE IS SUING THEM.>> WE TALKED TO A LOT OFPRESCRIBERS.WE LOOKED AT DATA FROM MEDICAIDAND FROM THE PRIVATE HEALTHINSURANCE MARKETS. MIKE: THE CIVIL COMPLAINTALLEGES PURDUE HAS SPENTHUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARSSINCE THE 1990'S ON MISLEADINGMARKETING.IT'S ACCUSED OF DOWNPLAYING THERISK OF ADDICTION ANDOVERSTATING ITS EFFECTIVENESS.>> WE SEE A LOT OF ADDICTION.MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO GO TOSTREET HEROIN, THEY START WITHPRESCRIPTION PAIN MEDICATION. MIKE: INVESTIGATORS SAY PURDUEFALSELY CLAIMED ITS PRODUCT ISNEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO ABUSE ANDTHAT IT FAILED TO REPORTSUSPICIOUS PRESCRIBERS.>> WHAT THEY DIDN'T TELL PEOPLEWAS THAT IF YOU'RE A CHRONICPAIN, LONG-TERM USER, YOURADDICTION RISK IS SUBSTANTIAL.AND IF PEOPLE KNEW THAT AND IFDOCTORS HAD KNOWN THAT, THEYWOULD'VE PRESCRIBED THEM IN VERYDIFFERENT WAYS. MIKE: PURDUE VIGOROUSLY DENIESTHE ALLEGATIONS AND SAYS, "WEARE AN INDUSTRY LEADER IN THEDEVELOPMENT OF ABUSE-DETERRENTTECHNOLOGY, ADVOCATING FOR THEUSE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGMONITORING PROGRAMS ANDSUPPORTING ACCESS TO NALOXONE."MEANWHILE THE AG'S OFFICECONTINUES TO INVESTIGATE FOUROTHER DRUG MANUFACTURERS.>> WE'RE HOPING THAT THEY WILLNOW PRODUCE DOCUMENTS AS WE'VEASKED THEM TO. MIKE: TONIGHT SENATOR MAGGIEHASSAN SAYING DRUG MAKERS HAVELONG BEEN RUNNING A CAMPAIGN OFDECEPTION, AND IT'S TIME FORREAL CHANGE.YOU CAN READ THE FULL LAWSUIT ON

Advertisement State files lawsuit against OxyContin manufacturer, claims deceptive marketing practices AG: Purdue Pharma downplayed risk, overstated effectiveness of opioid painkillers Share Shares Copy Link Copy

New Hampshire is suing the maker of OxyContin over what the state calls deceptive marketing practices, Deputy Attorney General Ann Rice announced Tuesday.The state Attorney General's Office said it has been investigating Purdue Pharma since September 2015 and has evidence that the company has committed numerous violations of the state's Consumer Protection Act, Medicaid Fraud Act and other state laws."We talked to a lot of prescribers. We looked at data from Medicaid and from the private health insurance markets," said Senior Assistant Attorney General James Boffetti.The 100-page civil complaint filed Tuesday in the Merrimack County Superior Court alleges that Purdue Pharma has spent hundreds of millions of dollars since the 1990s on misleading marketing.The company is accused of engaging in unfair or deceptive marketing practices that downplayed the risk of addiction from opioid painkillers.The complaint also claims that Purdue overstated the effectiveness of chronic opioid therapy by claiming that OxyContin lasts for 12 hours when, for many patients, that is not true."We see a lot of addiction, and most of the people who go to street heroin, they start with prescription pain medication," Boffetti said.Officials said the company claimed that the product is tamper-resistant and nearly impossible to abuse when the product's tamper resistant properties are easily defeated."What they didn't tell people was that if you're a chronic pain long-term user, your addiction risk is substantial, and if people knew that and if doctors had known that, they would've prescribed them in very different ways," Boffetti said.Last year, New Hampshire settled a lawsuit against Insys, the maker of a fentanyl spray called SUBSYS.“Over the past two years, our office has conducted an extensive investigation into Purdue’s marketing of OxyContin and its other products in New Hampshire,” Rice said.“New Hampshire continues to experience a severe opioid epidemic. Last year alone, nearly 500 overdose deaths occurred—almost 10 times more than in 2000. In 2016, the Deputy Administrator of the DEA called New Hampshire ‘ground zero’ of the opioid epidemic. The CDC reports four out of five heroin users started with prescription opioids. To defeat the epidemic, we must stop creating new users and part of that is making sure these highly addictive and dangerous drugs are marketed truthfully and without deception and in such a way as not to minimize addiction risks or overstate benefits to patients.”Purdue Pharma released the following statement Tuesday evening."While we vigorously deny the allegations, we share New Hampshire officials' concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions.""We are an industry leader in teh development of abuse-deterrent technology, advocating for the use of prescription drug monitoring programs and supporting access to naloxone," a company representative said.The company also said that OxyContin accounts for less than 2 percent of the opioid analgesic prescription market nationally.Read the full complaint here.The Attorney General's Office continues to investigate four other drug manufacturers."We're hoping that they will now produce documents as we've asked them to," Boffetti said.Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan released a statement Tuesday night which read, in part, "Through improper marketing of prescription opioids, drug makers have long been running a campaign of deception to mask how addictive these products really are. Despite companies being fined, these issues continue to persist, and it is time for real change to reverse the tide of this horrific epidemic that stems in large part from the misuse and abuse of prescription opioids."