A federal judge in Cleveland is overseeing suits filed by U.S. cities and counties seeking to recoup the costs of dealing with opioid addictions and overdoses as part of a settlement similar to the 1998 Big Tobacco accord. (Photo: Shutterstock)
The opioid epidemic just got more painful for Purdue Pharma LP and other makers of the pain-killing drugs as the U.S. government said it'll seek reimbursement from the companies for tax dollars spent battling the public-health crisis.
The U.S. Justice Department said it'll argue that it's entitled to a portion of any settlements or judgments in a consolidated case involving more than 300 lawsuits against Purdue, Johnson & Johnson and other opioid makers and distributors.
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"We will seek to hold accountable those whose illegality has cost us billions of taxpayer dollars," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in announcing his plan to file a so-called Statement of Interest in the case.
The move by the Justice Department is bound to add to the costs companies incur in resolving claims that they understated opioids' risks, said Richard Ausness, a University of Kentucky law professor.
"If the plaintiffs were thinking about asking for a certain number from each company in a settlement, now they've got to ask for a higher number because they know the feds are going to want part of the total pot,'' Ausness said.
A federal judge in Cleveland is overseeing suits filed by U.S. cities and counties seeking to recoup the costs of dealing with opioid addictions and overdoses as part of a settlement similar to the 1998 Big Tobacco accord. The judge has said he wants a deal addressing the companies' business practices and roots of the crisis.
The statement of interest hasn't appeared in the court filings yet and the Justice Department press office didn't immediately respond to a request for a copy of it.
Purdue officials said Tuesday they are engaging in settlement talks set up by Judge Daniel Polster in Cleveland and are open to exploring "meaningful solutions" to the opioid crisis. The company already has helped fund state prescription-monitoring programs and given law enforcement officials access to opioid-overdose antidotes, according to John Puskar, a company spokesman.
William Foster, a spokesman for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said the company isn't going to speculate on the impact of Sessions's announcement on any potential settlement.
"We believe our actions in marketing and promotion of these medicines were appropriate and responsible," Foster said in an emailed statement. "The allegations made against our company are baseless."
Kathy Profrock, a spokeswoman for Endo International Inc., didn't immediately return emails and calls for comment.
PIL task force
Sessions's announcement came during a press conference unveiling a larger Trump administration initiative to confront the opioid crisis, led by the Prescription Interdiction and Litigation — or PIL — Task Force.
Under federal law, Sessions can file a statement to outline the government's interest in any pending lawsuit. It doesn't mean the federal government is formally intervening in the case.
"They are sort of like vultures, waiting for the cities and counties to finish litigating the cases so they can swoop in for some of it,'' Ausness said.
Elizabeth Burch, a University of Georgia law professor who teaches about complex litigation, said it's the first time she'd seen such a statement filed by federal prosecutors in a consolidated products-liability case.
Social problems
Sessions said the government's claim is tied to tax dollars spent through "various federal health programs and law enforcement efforts'' to combat social problems caused by opioid addictions and overdoses.
More than 42,000 people died in the U.S. from opioid-related overdoses in 2016, amounting to 115 per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was up from 91 daily opioid overdose deaths the previous year, CDC officials said.
The epidemic cost the American economy $504 billion in 2015 — the equivalent of 2.8 percent of gross domestic product that year, according to a report last year by the Council of Economic Advisers.
Mark Lanier, a lawyer representing some cities and counties suing over opioid costs, said having the government lurking in the background may put more pressure on Purdue and other opioid makers to settle.
"Whatever deal we come up with is going to have to deal with the future as well as the past,'' said Lanier, who is part of the plaintiffs' leadership group in the opioid case. "That's going to cost a boatload of money.''
The case is In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, 17-cv-2804, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland).
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