Newtown Township Joins Suit Against Opioid Manufacturers and Distributors
With regard to the opioid crisis, I have said (here) that we can’t educate doctors and patients on the effects of opioids and combat the overdose epidemic without addressing the source of the problem: pharmaceutical companies.
At the December 12, 2018, meeting, the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS Definition) voted 4 to 1 in favor of authorizing Marc J. Bern Partners, LLP, & Cordisco & Saile, LLC to file suit against the manufacturers, promoters, and distributors of synthetic prescription Opioid medications on behalf of Newtown Township (see story embedded at the end of this post).
THIS SUIT WILL NOT COST NEWTOWN TAXPAYERS ANY MONEY!
Newtown Township will NOT incur any expenses related to this suit and it will NOT be charged any attorney fees for filing the action. The law firms will work on a 25% contingency basis, meaning that 25% of any fees awarded to Newtown will be retained by the law firms and 75% will go to Newtown.
The following video clip documents the discussion before the vote was taken:
SURVEY: Do You Support Newtown’s Decision to Sue Opioid Manufacturers, Distributors?
Take this survey to test your knowledge of statistics regarding opioids and the opioid epidemic, then answer the question: Do You Support Newtown's Decision to File a Civil Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers?
This survey is NOT an official Newtown Township survey.
There is no single “magic bullet” that will solve this problem, but putting pressure on drug companies through legal suits such as this one can help call attention to some of the bad players, some of whom are mentioned in this lawsuit.
I do wish other bad players were on the list of defendants. Including those companies who have illegally provided kickbacks to physicians to overprescribe their opioid products (see the “Further Reading” list below).
If the Township were to get some money out of this, small as it might be, it is my hope that the funds are used to support opioid anti-addiction programs and implement educational programs for the general public and students.
Further Reading:
- “Morrisville Agrees to Sue Opioid Drug Companies: 'You've Gotta Be Part of This.'”
- “Bucks Commissioners Plan Civil Suit Against Opioid Makers”
- “Founder of Insys Indicted for Bribing Docs to Illegally Prescribe Fentanyl. Lock Him Up!”
- “Former Insys Sales Reps Bribed Docs To Prescribe Opioids To As Many Patients as Possible”
- “FDA to Determine if Oxymorphone, Produced by KVK Tech in Newtown, is More Likely to Be Abused Than Other Opioids”
- “Pharmaceutical Opioid Settlement Cash Should Be Used to Create Treatment Programs for Addiction Victims, Says Newtown, OH, Police Chief”
- “The Other Cost of the Opioid Epidemic: Increased Taxes”
Posted on 14 Dec 2018, 10:53 - Category: Opioid Epidemic
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