Western Pennsylvania county third to sue over opioid issue
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BEAVER, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania county has become the third in the state to sue pharmaceutical companies for allegedly contributing to an opioid addiction crisis that has resulted in thousands of overdoses nationally in recent year.
Attorney Bob Peirce Jr. announced the lawsuit Monday on behalf of Beaver County against 14 drug companies and several doctors the county claims have contributed to 279 overdose deaths there since 2012.
Delaware County, near Philadelphia, was the first to file such a lawsuit in Pennsylvania in September, followed by Lackawanna County.
Peirce says unlike litigation in which some governments sought damages from tobacco companies, Beaver County — and others — can document money spent specifically on emergency responses, autopsies and other costs of overdoses.
Most of the companies being sued have said they’re already taking steps to curb opioid abuse.
Brett Sholtis was a health reporter for WITF/Transforming Health until early 2023. Sholtis is the 2021-2022 Reveal Benjamin von Sternenfels Rosenthal Grantee for Mental Health Investigative Journalism with the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism. His award-winning work on problem areas in mental health policy and policing helped to get a woman moved from a county jail to a psychiatric facility. Sholtis is a University of Pittsburgh graduate and a Pennsylvania Army National Guard Kosovo campaign veteran.
