DeWine suit blames drug manufacturers for fueling opiate epidemic

Five prescription drug manufacturers tricked doctors into prescribing opioids, fueling a drug epidemic that has killed thousands of Ohioans, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The lawsuit, filed in southern Ohio's Ross County, accuses Purdue Pharma, Endo Health Solutions, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Allergan of misleading doctors into over-prescribing opioids by downplaying the dangers of their drugs. Ohio leads the nation in the number of opiate overdose deaths. In 2015, 3,050 people died of drug overdoses statewide.

"It is just and it is right that the people who had a significant role in creating this mess in Ohio should clean it up," DeWine said at a news conference Wednesday. 

Among the fake claims: Individuals would not become addicted to opioids if they were used as directed. The claims were printed in medical journals, shared by sales representatives and shared by third-party groups, DeWine said. 

In the lawsuit, DeWine wants the companies to admit that their marketing was illegal. He also seeks an injunction to stop future fake claims and money for customers that DeWine says were deceived. 

"They knew all of it was wrong and they did it anyway," DeWine said.

Purdue Pharma contended that OxyContin accounted for less than 2 percent of the national opioid market. "We share the attorney general’s concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions," according to a company-provided statement.

Janssen contended that the allegations were legally and factually unfounded. "Janssen has acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients regarding our opioid pain medications, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about the known risks of the medications on every product label," spokeswoman Jessica Castles Smith said in a statement. 

Why file the lawsuit now? Prescription drugs have fueled Ohio's drug crisis for years. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and Sen. Joe Schiavoni, both Democrats running for governor, have called on Ohio leaders to hold drug companies accountable. 

Ohio and two dozen other states settled a lawsuit with Purdue Pharma in 2007 for $20 million over OxyContin. West Virginia settled with Cardinal Health for $20 million and AmerisourceBergen for $16 million after accusing them of violating state consumer protection laws. Mississippi recently sued manufacturers as well.

DeWine is expected to run for governor as a Republican. But DeWine insists it's a moral obligation rather than political prospects driving this decision.

"This is something I’ve looked at for some time," he said. "There’s no magic time. There’s no magic moment."

For Christina Arredondo, of Frankfort, the moment could not come soon enough. She buried her 24-year-old daughter, Felicia Detty, in 2015 because of a heroin overdose. Detty was five-and-a-half months pregnant with Arredondo's grandson at the time. She started using prescription pain pills when she was 18, after being prescribed Adderall. 

Arredondo kissed her daughter in the casket before she was buried. Arredondo blames drug companies for how they marketed these drugs. 

"We've got to stop looking at (addiction) like it's our fault. Because it's not our fault," she said. "I did nothing to cause this."