Clarion County Commissioners Sue Drug Companies Over Opioid Crisis

| February 28, 2018

CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Commissioners Ted Tharan, Wayne Brosious, and Ed Heasley announced Tuesday that Clarion County has filed suit against 14 pharmaceutical companies to recoup the cost of the deadly opioid crisis that has affected the entire country, and particularly Clarion County.

“The county has an obligation to help with citizens, regardless of the cost,” said the commissioners. “This is one of the few times that we will have an opportunity to recover taxpayer-funded costs and expenses.”

The goal of the lawsuit is to recover all costs associated with the opioid crisis borne by the county taxpayers, including payment for healthcare, pharmaceutical care, and other necessary services and programs on behalf of indigents and otherwise eligible residents. These include payments for prescription opioid painkillers manufactured, promoted, and sold by the 14 defendants listed in the suit.

Damages also include additional costs related to the criminal justice system, the county health department, emergency medical services provided by the county, and other incidental expenses directly related to the opioid crisis.

Clarion County has retained the Pittsburgh law firm of Robert Peirce and Associates and the New York firm of Marc J. Bern & Partners LLP. to represent the county. The agreement with the attorneys provides that the suit will not cost the county anything, but the Pierce and Bern law firms will obtain 25 percent of any recovery and bear all costs of litigation.

“As the complaint indicates, the defendants acknowledged that these drugs were addictive and deliberately misled the public and the medical community by failing to disclose the addictive nature of their drugs,” said Pierce. “As a result of this misrepresentation and failure to disclose the addictive nature of the drugs, the pharmaceutical companies have made literally billions of dollars in profits.”

Tharan noted that although the legal team is also representing other counties in suits, a separate suit has been filed for Clarion County. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is also expected to file an additional suit against the drug makers.

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