Schuylkill joins Pa. counties suing OxyContin maker
Prescription opioid OxyContin is manufactured by Purdue Pharma. (Photo: Associated Press)
Schuylkill County is taking steps to sue the makers of OxyContin and some types of prescription drugs. The county’s suit is one of at least 18 similar suits by counties across Pennsylvania.
The lawsuits are part of a mounting wave of similar civil filings across the U.S. from cities, counties and states.
The county is retaining the Philadelphia-based law firm of Saltz, Mongelussi, Barrett & Bendesky P.C. to file suit.
Most of the previous suits filed by counties allege opioid makers downplayed the risks of addiction and aggressively marketed their products to treat chronic pain.
That has led to disastrous results across Pennsylvania, said First Assistant Schuylkill County Solicitor Glenn Roth. It’s also driven up costs for county services.
“The funding requirements or obligations of the county continue to go up, and a lot of these costs can be tied to drug abuse and addiction,” Roth said.
At least 35 people died of drug overdoses in Schuylkill County in 2017, said county Deputy Coroner John Mika. However, Roth said, the financial costs of opioid addiction stretch beyond the coroner’s office to other county services like courts, prisons and children and youth services, which has to step in when a parent dies of an overdose or becomes unable to care for his or her child.
Roth says he expects the all the counties’ lawsuits to be consolidated in Delaware County Court later this year. He expects a massive class action against Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals and other companies that have made and promoted prescription opioids as safe pain management drugs.
“This could go in the direction you had with tobacco, and we felt it was important that we had Schuylkill County’s interests protected,” he said.
More: Why Pa. counties are suing OxyContin drug maker
