President Donald Trump has called on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to file lawsuits against certain drug manufacturers whose drugs have contributed to the opioid crisis.
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President Donald Trump has called on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to file lawsuits against certain drug manufacturers whose drugs have contributed to the opioid crisis. Trump called for the Department of Justice to bring a “major lawsuit” against those companies, according to reports.
Trump made the call during a cabinet meeting on Thursday, according to reports. Trump, CNN reported, told Sessions to bring lawsuits against the companies “that are really sending opioids at a level that it shouldn’t be happening.” The president noted that some states have already filed lawsuits against certain opioid manufacturers, particularly Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. Other companies that have been named in those lawsuits include Teva Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Endo International and Allergan. Certain distributors, like Wal-Mart, Walgreens and CVS have also been named in the lawsuits.
It’s not only U.S. companies that Trump wants to take on. The president also urged legal action against foreign companies, particularly those from China, that have contributed to the rise of fentanyl-related abuse. Fentanyl is a fast-acting narcotic often used in palliative care. Its fast-acting nature has made it ripe for abuse. Trump called fentanyl garbage and said it’s killing “our people.” He likened it to a form of warfare, CNN reported.
Sessions has already taken action against some of those manufacturers. CNN noted he is in the process of “returning indictments” against Chinese companies that have been tied to the distribution of fentanyl in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Justice has already gotten involved in the legal matters between state and local governments and opioid manufacturers. In April the Department of Justice filed a motion to participate in settlement discussions as a “friend of the court.” A friend of the court provides information and expertise in order to assist a judge in rendering a verdict. The friend of the court filing comes about a month after the DOJ formed a task force to target opioid manufacturers and distributors for the roles they have allegedly played in the increase of addiction across the country. The DOJ said it intended to use criminal and civil penalties to hold people accountable if they are convicted of adding to the crisis.
Opioid addiction has become a scourge across the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 116 Americans die daily from opioid overdoses. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report earlier this year that shows opioid-related emergency room visits spiked 30 percent across the states between July 2016 and September 2017. Midwestern states were particularly hard hit with spikes of 70 percent, the CDC report said.
As privately-owned Purdue Pharmaceuticals battles the litigation, the company has slashed its sales force associated with OxyContin. In February the company terminated more than half its sales force and then cut 350 more jobs in June. In addition to those June job cuts, the company said it was shifting its focus to new drugs.
As Purdue faces hundreds of lawsuits over the marketing and sale of OxyContin, the company is reportedly looking to restructure as it eyes a future after opioids. Reuters reported this morning that the company hired the legal team of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP for financial restructuring advice. The company has also tapped other legal teams to handle the opioid litigation cases it faces, Reuters added.
