Bensalem officials announced Wednesday that they plan to file lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies whose “unlawful acts caused and contributed to the opioid crisis.”
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The move from Bucks County’s largest municipality comes after the town has been hit hard by the opioid crisis that has enveloped the nation and killed thousands in the Philadelphia region.
The township has hired firm Young, Ricchiuti, Caldwell and Heller out of Philadelphia to handle the case. The civil case will not cost Bensalem taxpayers anything. The firm will only be paid if the case is won for the town, Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo said.
The mayor said the total damages Bensalem is seeking was not available, but officials believe the sum to be in the tens of millions.
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As has been seen locally, opioid addiction often starts with prescription drugs that were stolen, taken from relatives and legally provided due to an ailment.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 3,200 Pennsylvanians died due to drug overdoses in 2015, an increase over previous years.
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The suit – set to go after recognizable names including Johnson and Johnson, Purdue Pharma Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA – is set to hit the pharmaceutical companies by attacking their bottom lines and making sure they pay attention to the problem communities like Bensalem are facing. As much as making a statement to the targeted companies, making back taxpayer money spent on increased emergency service calls is a goal as well.
Last year, approximately 140 drug overdose deaths were investigated by the Bucks County Coroner’s Office, according to public records.
Between 2006 and 2016, Bensalem saw a 556 percent increase in emergency drug-related calls and a 153 percent increase in drug arrests.
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“We are making more arrests and we are doing more outside of the box type thinking and finding rehabilitation for folks, but the numbers continue to rise,” explained Fred Harran, the director of public safety in Bensalem.
In all, law enforcement costs have risen above $200 million during the epidemic, Harran said.
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Bensalem is not alone in filing claims against pharmaceutical companies, but is the first to do so in Pennsylvania, officials said.
Tiny Welch, West Virginia, filed lawsuits against five of the largest out-of-state pharmaceutical distributors in their area, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. The area is one of the hardest hit by the national opioid crisis.
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The New York Daily News reported similar legal actions have been filed against pharmaceutical companies by Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York.
In Everett, Washington, officials sued the the manufacturer of OxyContin, an opioid that is commonly abused, claiming the company knew the drug was being trafficked illegally, an NPR article states.
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Erie County in New York had reasoning similar to Bensalem’s when they filed a lawsuit earlier this year. In court filings, they claim that the pharmaceutical companies marketed their opioid painkillers despite knowing the addiction crisis and mislead the public about the dangers.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in June that his office is working with law enforcers in other states to investigate “whether manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing and sale of opioids.”
“The people peddling the drugs ripping apart our towns aren’t only on our street corners. Three out of four heroin users started by abusing prescription opioids, and our ongoing investigation is going straight into the boardrooms of pharmaceutical companies. We will follow the evidence to hold every person and every company responsible for this tragedy accountable on behalf of Pennsylvanians,” Shapiro said.
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Bensalem has been a leader in Bucks County in dealing with the opioid crisis by working to investigate crimes caused by the epidemic. Police officers have worked to get drug users into treatment and made arrests of drug dealers throughout Bucks County. Bensalem first responders also carry doses of opioid overdose reversing drug and often make use of them to save individuals who are overdosing.
“I hope that we come out of here today understanding that this is not getting better,” DiGirolamo said. “It’s breaking my heart, and I know it is breaking a lot of other hearts.”
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DiGirolamo and other Bensalem officials have been working towards Wednesday’s announcement for a few weeks. They settled on the date due to its timing with National Overdose Awareness Day, DiGirolamo said.
Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub was present at the conference, along with Bensalem State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson and others in support of the suit. Weintraub commented that as the situation stands with the suit right now, he could not comment on the appropriateness of criminal legal action.
Bensalem officials said the lawsuits are matters for the civil courts.
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Before the end of the press conference, Mayor DiGirolamo called for the support of other local municipalities, indicating his intention to speak with Mayor Jim Kenney from Philadelphia on the issue.
Bucks County officials have been working with local leaders and law enforcement to try to slow the opioid epidemic in the area. Earlier this year, a Push Out the Pusher campaign began and the district attorney’s office hired six new detectives to form a drug task force that will complement municipal patrol officers and detectives.
