PROVIDENCE — Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin has filed a suit against two pharmaceutical companies and three distributors, alleging their campaign unfairly, deceptively, and fraudulently marketed and promoted opioids in Rhode Island, calling out Purdue Pharma Inc. in particular for aggressive marketing in Rhode Island.
The complaint, filed in Rhode Island Superior Court, names opioid manufacturers Purdue Pharma L.P., Purdue Pharma Inc., The Purdue Frederick Company, Inc., and Insys Therapeutics, Inc.; and distributors: McKesson Corp. d/b/a McKesson Drug Co., Cardinal Health, Inc., and the AmerisourceBergen Drug Co. as defendants.
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The complaint states the defendants created a public nuisance, committed violations of the State False Claims Act, engaged in fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation, were negligent/negligent per se/grossly negligent and engaged in negligently misrepresentation, and were unjustly enriched.
The suit seeks a finding that the companies’ conduct constitutes a public nuisance, unspecified damages for the public nuisance, a permanent injunction ordering them to cease the alleged deceptive practices, triple damages for each violation of the Rhode Island False Claims Act, punitive damages, and that the parties pay back all unjust enrichment received through the practices, with interest.
“We can no longer let opioid manufacturers and distributors create chaos in our state. Today, I’m proud to say my office is continuing the fight on behalf of all of our residents,” said Kilmartin. “The opioid epidemic is a major public health crisis in Rhode Island and we must use every tool at our disposal to fight back. This suit reflects what we found through our investigation and seeks to hold those we believe to be responsible accountable for their actions, as well as seeking long-term remedies to help our citizens.”
The suit states that when Purdue developed OxyContin in the mid-1990s, the company knew that to expand its market and profits, it needed to change the perception of opioids to permit and encourage the use of opioids more liberally.
To do that, Purdue had to persuade prescribers and patients that opioids were appropriate for prolonged use for more widespread, less severe pain conditions such as back pain, migraines, and arthritis. Purdue helped cultivate a narrative that pain was under-treated and pain treatment should be a higher priority for health care providers. This paved the way for increased prescribing of opioids for chronic pain. The state alleges that, as part of the company’s strategy, Purdue misrepresented the risk of addiction for pain patients as modest, manageable, and outweighed by the benefits of opioid use.
In Rhode Island, Purdue aggressively marketed its opioids, making thousands of visits to doctors, knowing that its in-person marketing, or “detailing,” was effective, according to Kilmartin’s office. Purdue’s deceptive marketing caused prescribing not only of their opioids, but of opioids as a class, to skyrocket. Opioids are now among the most prescribed classes of drugs, Kilmartin states in the suit.
Representatives from Purdue did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit.
The complaint further alleges that INSYS paid prescribers to give “sham lectures” to promote its highly potent fentanyl-based opioid Subsys, as part of a kickback program to encourage high-volume fentanyl prescribers.
Representatives from INSYS did not respond to a request for comment on the suit before press time.
Distributors also contributed to the opioid crisis, the suit states. According to the complaint, distributors persistently disregarded their obligations to identify suspicious orders and customers, facilitating and failing to stop the diversion of opioids within and to Rhode Island.
“The opioid and addiction crisis is the most urgent health care crisis of our time. Rhode Island has taken steps to address the crisis with an emphasis on treatment, recovery and prevention,” said Gov. Gina M. Raimondo. “This crisis has touched every single Rhode Island community, and I’ve met too many parents who have lost children to an overdose after getting addicted to prescribed painkillers. I applaud Attorney General Kilmartin for taking on opioid manufacturers and distributors.”
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.
