On the Job 

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a lawsuit on May 31 against five leading prescription opioid manufacturers that he said contributed to the state’s deadly addiction crisis.

“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” DeWine said. “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 suit, filed in Ross County Common Pleas Court in Chillicothe — a town hard hit by the drug epidemic — names Purdue Pharma; Endo Health Solutions; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and subsidiary Cephalon; Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals; and Allergan as defendants.

DeWine is seeking an injunction to stop deceptions and misrepresentations by manufacturers. The lawsuit states, among other things, 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.

The suit also seeks financial damages for consumers and the state.

Christina Arredondo of Ross County joined the Attorney General for the lawsuit announcement. Her daughter, Felicia Detty, died of a heroin overdose in 2015 at age 24. She was 5 months pregnant.
"We loved her unconditionally,” Arredondo said. “Your entire world gets destroyed."

In the wake of DeWine’s announcement, a bipartisan group of state attorneys general from Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Texas on June 15 announced joint investigations into the marketing and sales practices of the manufacturers of opioid painkillers.