Schuyler County will receive up to
$121,000.00 from Johnson &
Johnson, the parent company of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to treat, reduce
and prevent opioid use through a court settlement with the opioid maker.
Meeting in special session on
Wednesday (September 8), the County Legislature voted unanimously to accept the
settlement and authorized Schuyler County Attorney Steven Getman to execute the
necessary legal documents on the county’s behalf.
According to Getman, the
funds can be used for a variety of restricted and unrestricted purposes.
“Possible uses include
supporting law enforcement
and first responders, treating opioid addiction,
funding social services and similar efforts,” Getman explained.
The drug maker also agreed to
permanently end the manufacture and distribution of opioids across the nation,
Getman said.
The funding is part of a $260
million settlement that Johnson & Johnson reached in New York State to
finalize lawsuits brought by Schuyler County, the State of New York and others,
pertaining to the company’s alleged role in the increase of use and abuse of
opioids.
In 2018, Getman, working with
law firm Napoli Shkolnik, PLLC as special counsel, filed a lawsuit against
approximately thirty defendants, including some of the biggest names in the
pharmaceutical industry. Along with
Johnson and Johnson/Janssen, the defendants included: Purdue Pharma L.P.; Teva
Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.; Cephalon, Inc.; Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Actavis
Pharma, Inc. and Insys Therapeutics, Inc.
The lawsuit alleged the
defendants knew–and had known for years–that opioids were addictive and subject
to abuse, particularly when used long-term for chronic non-cancer pain, and
should not be used except as a last-resort. However, the lawsuit stated, the
defendants spent hundreds of millions of dollars disseminating scientific
materials and advertising that misrepresented the risks of opioids’ long-term
use.
Schuyler County was one of
many local governments that filed lawsuits against the manufacturers and
distributors of opioid pain killers. At least 14 counties across New York sued the
pharmaceutical companies for what the counties claimed were deceptive marketing
practices.
After the counties filed
suit, in March 2019, the New York State Attorney General’s office filed its own
lawsuit on behalf of the state. In
June, Attorney General Letitia James announced the tentative deal with Johnson
and Johnson, calling the largest monetary settlement ever secured by her
office.
Schuyler County’s lawsuit
against other defendants remains pending, Getman said, with the possibility of
more settlements and additional funding to the county still to come.
“Over the past few years, despite its small
population, Schuyler County has seen an uptick in opioid and heroin use and
overdose,” Getman said. “To date, County officials have expended public
resources to help its residents battle opioid addiction and prevent further deaths.
This settlement is just one step to reimburse the County for its expenses
related to the opioid crisis as well as provide the County with financial
assistance to continue this battle.”
Johnson and Johnson has
stated the settlement was not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by them and
the company “remains committed to providing certainty for involved parties and
critical assistance for communities in need.”
The lawsuits by Schuyler
County and others are part of a tide of litigation over an epidemic linked to
nearly 500,000 deaths over the last twenty years. The cases have drawn
comparisons to the multistate litigation against tobacco companies in the
1990s. Those lawsuits were resolved as
part of the landmark $206 billion Master Settlement Agreement announced in
November 1998 between the tobacco industry and the states’ attorney generals.
A complete copy of Schuyler
County’s lawsuit can be found here.
A copy of the county’s
resolution approving the settlement can be found here.
