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COALVILLE — Summit County officials filed a lawsuit Tuesday against more than a dozen “big pharma” opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The 250-page complaint is the first lawsuit from any county in the state against major drug manufacturers. Summit County was joined by several other Utah and national law firms in the lawsuit against the companies filed in Utah's 3rd District Court.
An exact amount the county is seeking in damages has not yet been determined, attorneys said.
Defendants include Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Allergan, Actavis, Watson Laboratories, Insys Therapeutics, Inc., Mallinckrodt, Mckesson Corporation, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Corporation, among others.
“These drug manufacturers and distributors reaped the financial benefits in the billions of dollars and now they should be financially responsible for the opioid crisis facing our communities," added Summit County attorney Margaret Olson.
Complaints include that the county's opioid issues were created by misinformation and false claims made by manufacturers about risks from long-term use beginning in the 1990s, including addiction. It also claims distributors failed to report to the Drug Enforcement Administration and other national and local agencies improper uses of the opioids.
"Opioids are unsafe for chronic, long-term pain because of the unacceptably high rates," said Colin King, an attorney at Dewsnup King Olsen Worel Havas & Mortensen based in Salt Lake City. "It is a scourge, it is an epidemic and we intend to do something about it."
Utah was among the worst in the country in drug overdose deaths in 2016, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics.
In explaining the lawsuit Tuesday, King said counties are "suffering the brunt" of the American opioid crisis cost, having to foot the bill for county-funded drug programs, treatment centers and other projects aimed to curb opioid addiction and deaths.
He added companies, not doctors, created "deceptive and misleading" marketing campaigns about the drugs, which is why the lawsuit targeted the companies.
"The vast majority of physicians in the United States were duped along with the users into thinking — because this was the marketing strategy for years — opioids are not unreasonably dangerous for long-term use," King said.
King said he hopes the lawsuit makes a difference in the community and that other counties across the state would join in the future.
The lawsuit was filed less than two weeks after the Summit County Council unanimously recognized the county's opioid crisis, authorizing Olsen to "initiate and pursue" damages and litigation against opioid manufacturers and to come up with public health plan to address the issue within the county.
“The opioid epidemic has significantly impacted residents of Summit County," said Kim Carson, the chair of the Summit County Council, in a statement. "We as a community are very concerned with the easy access to opioids and the devastating effects these drugs have on our families, friends and neighbors."
