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Attorney General Mike DeWine
DeWine Files Lawsuit
Against Opioid Manufacturers for Fraudulent Marketing
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today filed a
lawsuit against five leading prescription opioid manufacturers and
their related companies in Ross County Court of Common Pleas. The
lawsuit alleges that the drug companies engaged in fraudulent marketing
regarding the risks and benefits of prescription opioids, which fueled
Ohio's opioid epidemic.
"We believe the evidence will also show that these companies got
thousands and thousands of Ohioans -- our friends, our family members,
our co-workers, our kids -- addicted to opioid pain medications, which
has all too often led to use of the cheaper alternatives of heroin and
synthetic opioids. These drug manufacturers led prescribers to
believe that opioids were not addictive, that addiction was an easy
thing to overcome, or that addiction could actually be treated by
taking even more opioids" said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. "They
knew they were wrong, but they did it anyway -- and they continue to do
it. Despite all evidence to the contrary about the addictive
nature of these pain medications, they are doing precious little to
take responsibility for their actions and to tell the public the truth."
The five manufacturers which are listed as defendants include:
Purdue Pharma, which sold OxyContin, MS Contin, Dilaudid, Butrans,
Hyslingla, and Targiniq
Endo Health Solutions, which sold Percocet, Percodan, Opana, and Zydone
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and its subsidiary Cephalon, which sold
Actiq and Fentora
Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which
sold Duragesic and Nucynta
Allergan, which sold Kadian, Norco, and several generic opioids
The lawsuit alleges, among several counts, 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. This false marketing included medical
journal advertising, sales representative statements, and the use of
front groups to deliver information which downplayed the risks and
inflated the benefits of certain formulations of opioids. This behavior
proliferated the prescription of opioids and fueled the opioid epidemic
Ohio is currently facing.
In the lawsuit, Attorney General DeWine is seeking the following
remedies, including:
A declaration that the companies’ actions were illegal
An injunction to stop their continued deceptions and misrepresentations
and to abate the harm they have caused
Damages for the money that the State spent on the opioids that these
companies sold and marketed in Ohio and for other costs of their
deceptive acts
Repayment to consumers who, like the State, paid for unnecessary opioid
prescriptions for chronic pain.
The lawsuit was filed in Ross County as Southern Ohio was likely the
hardest hit area in the nation by the opioid epidemic.
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