Southern Illinois county sues Abbott over marketing's role in opioid epidemic
By Lisa Schencker
In this Feb. 16, 2017, photo, a discarded syringe sits in the dirt with other debris under a highway overpass where drug users are known to congregate in Everett, Wash. The city is among those suing pharmaceutical giant Purdue Pharma, trying to hold the maker of OxyContin accountable for damages to the community. (Elaine Thompson / AP)
A southern Illinois county has sued north suburban-based Abbott Laboratories, accusing it of helping to feed a nationwide opioid epidemic.
In filing its lawsuit, St. Clair County, near East St. Louis, joins a growing number of communities across the country, including Chicago, suing drugmakers for their alleged role in the opioid crisis.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in state court, accuses Abbott and Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma of overstating the benefits of opioids and misrepresenting the risks.
"It was Defendants' marketing — and not any medical breakthrough — that rationalized prescribing opioids for chronic pain and opened the floodgates for opioid use and abuse," according to the lawsuit. "The result has been catastrophic."
In 2015, nearly 1,400 Illinois residents died of overdoses from all types of opioids, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Abbott worked with Purdue to promote, market and distribute Purdue's opioid medications, according to the lawsuit. Abbott no longer sells drugs in the U.S., having split its proprietary drug business into a new company called AbbVie in 2013.
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Abbott spokeswoman Darcy Ross said in a statement Friday that Abbott is "fully indemnified by Purdue for this matter," and noted that Abbott ended its co-promotion with Purdue nearly 14 years ago.
Purdue in a separate statement Friday, said, "We share public officials' concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions."
Purdue noted its drug OxyContin accounts for less than 2 percent of opioid prescriptions for pain in the U.S., "but we are an industry leader in the development of abuse-deterrent technology and advocating for the use of prescription drug monitoring programs."
St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly said Friday it's important to hold drugmakers accountable for their role in the spread of opioid abuse.
"They continue to make a lot of money being part of the problem and they have not, in my estimation, stepped up to accept responsibility for their role in this crisis," Kelly said.
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In 2007, Purdue paid more than $600 million in criminal and civil fines and penalties after admitting it illegally marketed and promoted OxyContin by claiming it was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications.
Though St. Clair County filed the new lawsuit, Kelly said his county is not much different than many others across the country when it comes to the opioid addiction and its consequences.
According to the lawsuit, more than 9 million pills of oxycodone and hydrocodone were sold in St. Clair County in 2014. That's about 34 pills per St. Clair resident and significantly higher than the average 1.22 pills sold per Illinois resident, according to the lawsuit.
In 2015, 26 St. Clair residents died of opioid overdoses, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Cook County had the most deaths of all the counties in the state, with 546 in 2015.
The city of Chicago filed its own lawsuit against five opioid drugmakers in 2014, including Purdue. That lawsuit is ongoing.
Also, last summer, Chicago reached an agreement with Pfizer, which agreed to a written code of conduct for marketing opioids.
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A number of other municipalities also have sued drugmakers in recent years, including counties in West Virginia and California, a city in Washington, and the state of Kentucky, among others.
More lawsuits from municipalities are likely, said Michael Canty, a partner at law firm Labaton Sucharow in New York City and a former federal prosecutor. As the costs of the epidemic rise, municipalities will want to hold those they see as responsible for the epidemic accountable for those costs, he said.
"We're going to continue to see it, coast to coast, as the epidemic has been impacting people nationwide," said Serena Hallowell, also a partner at Labaton.
Drugmakers aren't the only ones being targeted. Pharmacies and others also are being caught up in litigation.
On Thursday, the Cherokee Nation filed a lawsuit against a number of distributors and pharmacy chains, including Deerfield-based Walgreens Boots Alliance, accusing them of failing to stem the flow of illegally prescribed opioids to the tribe's members.
A Walgreens spokesman declined to comment on the Cherokee Nation lawsuit Friday.
lschencker@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @lschencker