Local and State Leaders in MA Take the Fight Against Opioids to Court

BOSTON, Oct. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the opioid epidemic is the fastest growing public health crisis in America, claiming close to 100 lives each day.

Left unchallenged, it's predicted that as many as 650,000 people will die over the next 10 years from opioid overdoses, nearly the entire population of Boston.  

To better understand the escalation of the opioid epidemic we must go back to the late 1990's. Pharmaceutical companies saw an opportunity in the market and took it, regardless of the moral implications. They pushed opioids such as oxycodone as a 'miracle drug' on doctors for treatment in patients with hard to manage pain, or any level of pain. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, pharmaceutical companies deceptively reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to prescription opioids. This subsequently led to rapid widespread misuse of prescription opioids even after it became clear that they were in fact, extremely addictive. Today we know there is no difference between any of these prescription opioid drugs and heroin. In fact, it's estimated that 80 percent of people addicted to heroin first misused prescription opioids.

In the last five years alone, 723 people in Boston have died from opioid-related overdoses. Between 2016-2017 the number of deaths due to opioid overdoes reported by Boston EMS to the medical examiner has increased by 50 percent.

However, Massachusetts and The City of Boston are fighting back.

In a move to combat this massive epidemic, The City of Boston filed a lawsuit last month against opioid pharmaceutical companies, distributors and Dr. Fathallah Mashali, a Dover based pain management doctor also sentenced on Medicare fraud charges earlier this year, pursuing damages over the opioid crisis. This comes after the state of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma and the OxyContin maker's executives last June.

The city along with the Boston Public Health Commission and the Boston Housing Authority filed a complaint in late September against several drug makers including Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson and Insys Therapeutics Inc., Cephalon Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals, Cardinal Health Inc. Mallinckrodt LLC, Americsource Bergen Drug Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance.

This lawsuit joins a legion of similar lawsuits filed against pharmaceutical companies across the US. It alleges public nuisance, negligence, fraud and unjust enrichment. Mayor Martin Walsh stated the city will seek $64 million in damages to cover the impact of the opioid epidemic. Mayor Walsh has also stated investigations by legal counsel have discovered evidence that between 2010 and 2016 over 457 milligrams of oxycodone were dispersed per Boston resident, double the state average and three times the national average.

When evaluating the impact of the opioid epidemic, the devastation to public safety and our judicial system must also be addressed.

Drug-related arrests involving opioids are skyrocketing. In many communities, court dockets and probation caseloads are filled up by individuals with opioid-use disorders. Access to medication-assisted treatment combined with cognitive behavioral interventions is limited for many individuals stuck in the judicial system due to drug addiction.

Under my plan to battle the opioid epidemic as Suffolk County District Attorney, courts would be encouraged to work with local, state and regional multi-disciplinary programs to identify policy changes that can improve treatment and reduce overdose deaths and continued addiction cycles. The DA's office would be particularly useful in bringing together a variety of agencies. I would implement law-enforcement diversion programs and prosecutor diversion programs to divert individuals with substance-use disorders from the criminal justice system into effective treatment at the earliest possible point. This includes expanding sentencing options that provide substance-abuse treatment as an alternative to incarceration and harm reduction zones to initiate immediate contact with those most in need of treatment without risk of prosecution.  

As the opioid epidemic expands into nearly every aspect of our community, it's encouraging to see The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and The City of Boston take joint legal action with local and state organizations to fight back. As Suffolk County District Attorney I will work with government and private organizations to create an environment of reform over incarceration for those afflicted by drug addictions and seek prosecution for those responsible for the proliferation of this massive epidemic.

Contact: Linda Arian 
Email: [email protected]  
Phone: 617-419-6719

SOURCE Michael Maloney for Suffolk County District Attorney