Chester County Files Lawsuit Seeking Compensation for Devastating Effects of Opioid Crisis

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The Chester County Board of Commissioners has announced that the county has filed an action to combat the devastating effects of the opioid crisis on its residents.

The county has retained the law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP to file a civil lawsuit in the Federal Eastern District of Pennsylvania against drug manufacturers and distributors for their alleged role in the opioid epidemic.

In January, the commissioners announced their intention to file the lawsuit, and since that time, the county’s solicitors and staff from the Department of Human Services, Drug and Alcohol Services, Health Department, Department of Emergency Services, court-related departments, and other relevant departments have been working with Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP in preparation of the filing.

Chester County’s lawsuit is focused on securing funding to aid with critical educational and addiction recovery assistance and social service needs, as well as compensation for law enforcement and court-related costs, education, and prevention measures. It will seek restitution for the harm incurred as a result of deceptive and fraudulent marketing practices of several pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors and the failure to report suspicious purchases by certain wholesalers, which is a violation of federal and state laws.

Chester County has named seven manufacturing groups as defendants:

  • Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family (creators of OxyContin and Purdue’s owners)
  • Endo Pharmaceuticals
  • Janssen Pharmaceuticals
  • Teva Pharmaceuticals (including Cephalon)
  • Allergan
  • Insys
  • Mallinckrodt

The county also has named the three largest distributors of opioids in the country – Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen – for their alleged role in the epidemic.

Chester County recorded 112 accidental, fatal drug overdoses for 2018.

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