Westchester alleges Big Pharma key to deadly opioid crisis that cost tax dollars to fight

County Executive George Latimer described Westchester’s lawsuit against Big Pharma as more than just an attempt to recoup the tax dollars spent on fighting the opioid epidemic.

Speaking about the legal complaint, Latimer, a Democrat, focused on the hundreds of Westchester families devastated by fatal overdoses and addiction as prescription painkillers and heroin hooked millions of Americans.

He stood beside Stephanie Marquesano, a Westchester mother whose teenage son died of an overdose, to ask courts to force the pharmaceutical industry to change.

“We’re saying that when you have a business in this country...you have every right to function, but you must do it with public interest in mind,” he said, referring to the more than 30 companies named as defendants in Westchester's opioid lawsuit.

LAWSUITS: Learn how opioid litigation spread across the country

DEATHS: Why overdose deaths continued to rise despite fewer pain-pill scripts

MONEY: Why Big Pharma pays millions to influence doctors in New York

“You have to think of Stephanie’s son, and you have to think of Stephanie and her family and her life that was ruined by the marketing of this product that found its way to her son,” Latimer said. “This is to end a practice that breaks families apart and takes lives.”

Westchester recently joined the list of more than 200 lawsuits across the country making similar claims that Big Pharma was key to the historic drug crisis underway.

The lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Westchester targeted companies that manufactured and distributed opioids, and claimed they intentionally misled doctors and the public about the dangers of such powerfully addictive medications.

Overall, 60 of 62 counties in New York state have either retained firms or filed lawsuits tied to the drug crisis, said Paul Napoli, the lawyer representing Westchester. The cases are being consolidated in a state court in Suffolk County.

Westchester is seeking unspecified damages, alleging that pharma companies' illicit behavior led to significant spikes in spending on law enforcement, opioid-antidote training, and addiction prevention and treatment programs.

During a press conference, Latimer and other Westchester officials spoke about the immeasurable toll of opioid addiction.

"This lawsuit will not bring back those who have died as a result of opioid addiction," said County Attorney John Nonna. "But it will hold those companies who have been guilty of marketing these drugs with false advertising and false claims...accountable for the financial losses that our county has suffered as a result of dealing with this epidemic."

Opioid litigation, which started as a trickle, reached a flood last year when about 250 cities, counties and states sued opioid makers, wholesalers, distributors and marketers, USA Today Network reported.

Lawsuit claims

The lawsuits accuse the companies of misleading health care professionals and the public by marketing opioids as rarely addictive and a safe substitute for non-addictive pain medications, such as ibuprofen.

The companies deny the claims and say litigation should be halted until the Food and Drug Administration-ordered studies on the long-term risks and benefits of opioids are completed.

Experts say the sheer number of opioid lawsuits could lead some companies to settle.

"The litigation costs must be killing them," said Richard Ausness, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law. "The problem is that a settlement with some plaintiffs will only cause more plaintiffs to sue."

Napoli, the lawyer representing Westchester, said the damage done by opioid addiction threatens generations of Americans.

"Our hope is that this lawsuit will not only help stop the dying and stop the addiction, but also help recoup the costs in the past that (Westchester) County has expended in dealing with the problem," he said, adding the spending is expected to last years into the future.

Like many counties, Westchester's deal with Napoli is on a contingency basis, meaning his law firm only gets paid if it wins the case. The Long Island-based firm gets between 7.5 and 25 percent of any damages, depending on if it ends in settlement or goes to trial, county officials said.

Pain-pill prescriptions

The pharma lawsuits come after pain-pill prescriptions dropped in New York from 2012 to 2016, while many doctors and lawmakers focused on cutting off the supply of opioids.

Nationally, the total number of prescriptions peaked in 2012 at about 255 million and a rate of 81 prescriptions per 100 persons.

Then in 2016, the national prescribing rate fell to 66.5 prescriptions per 100 people, the lowest it had been in more than a decade, federal data showed.

New York State’s rate was even lower at 42.7 prescriptions per 100 people in 2016. That same year, Westchester and Rockland counties had prescribing rates of 35 and 34.6, respectively.

The decline in opioid prescribing rates, however, didn’t translate into fewer deaths. Many struggling with addiction turned to the cheaper and deadlier illicit heroin and fentanyl being smuggled into the U.S. in record amounts by Mexican drug cartels.

The number of fatal overdoses increased in Westchester and Rockland to 143 in 2016, up from 110 in 2015, The Journal News/lohud reported.

One previous overdose death was Marquesano's son, Harris, who she said started using marijuana before trying the prescription pills that led to addiction, a tragic but all too common path during the drug crisis.

"As an advocate and someone who is truly living a nightmare, the silver lining for me is that I live in Westchester County, where there is much support for turning the tide on this epidemic," Marquesano said.

Following her son's death, Marquesano started an advocacy group, the harris project, focused on treating the co-occurring disorders among many struggling with addiction.

She described boosting mental health services and outreach as key to ending the crisis.

"There also needs to be an understanding about the risks of legal prescription for things like sports injuries or wisdom-tooth removal, and understanding of how quickly a young mind can turn to an addicted mind," Marquesano said.

"There is no such thing as experimentation for the 25-year-old and younger with opioids."

The flood of drugs

Westchester Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler described the deadly risks facing those struggling with addiction during flood of illicit drugs during the past 20 years.

"The reason that more overdoses occur for prescription opioids....is simply because prescription opioids are very accessible," Amler said. "Although pain medication may be very appropriate sometimes, it is incredibly important that we use the lowest effective dose for the shortest period of time.

Amler warned people against sharing pain medications and turning to the streets if cut off by doctors.

"Sometimes people think that prescription painkillers are safer so they may be looking for them on the street, but when you buy the painkillers on the street…you do not know what you’re buying," she said. "These drugs may have been illicitly manufactured and may contain fentanyl and other drugs that are extremely dangerous."

County officials and Marquesano further noted that the lawsuits and mounting spotlight on the drug crisis offers a rare opportunity to re-evaluate everything from doctors' prescribing habits to addiction treatment.

"States across this country are spending millions and millions of dollars on treatments that aren’t really working," she said. "We hear about people going into treatment 10 or 15 times and then they come out and relapse and it starts again."

"This is an opportunity to look at where treatment is going wrong...opioids may be the start, but for many people there are other things going on underneath."