The eight-count complaint in part alleges that the conduct of the defendants has exacted a financial burden for which the City seeks relief. The city has incurred (1) costs of EMS and other city departments in responding to and treating opioid-related emergencies, including opioid overdoses; (2) costs incurred by the police and other city departments in addressing law enforcement and public safety threats caused by the opioid epidemic; (3) costs associated with providing medical care, therapeutic care, prescription drug purchases, and other treatments for city employees and others who receive health insurance from the City, and; (4) costs incurred by the City health bureau and other city departments in connection with providing health services, social services, and preventative education to mitigate the harms caused by the opioid epidemic in Allentown.\u00a0 The complaint includes counts alleging fraud, public nuisance, and violations of the federal RICO statute.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mayor Ray O\u2019Connell said, \u201cthe defendants have made huge profits on the manufacture, distribution, marketing and sale of opioids while the City of Allentown and its residents have paid the high costs of providing services directly related to opioid-related emergencies and addictions.\u00a0 This suit is a way to battle back.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe opioid multidistrict litigation has exposed a shocking pattern of racketeering and fraud by Big Pharma, resulting in last week\u2019s historic settlement for Ohio counties,\u201d said attorney Joe Khan.\u00a0 \u201cFiling this complaint today ensures that Allentown gets a stake in the outcome of this fight.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In Lehigh County, 308 people died of drug overdoses between 2016 and 2017, with most of those deaths being related to opioids.\u00a0 More than a third of these people died within the city limits of Allentown.\u00a0 Not counting deaths that occurred at hospitals, 72 Allentown residents died of an overdose in 2017 alone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The opioid epidemic is a growing threat to not only the city\u2019s public health but also its public safety. Opioid-related crimes include theft of money or property to finance opioid addiction; theft of prescription opioids from friends, relatives or others; and crimes committed while under the influence of opioids. Opioid abuse has adversely impacted neighborhood public safety and well-being in the City.\u00a0 Opioid addiction has led to an alarming number of \u201cstrong arm robberies\u201d in Allentown, with more than 1,500 such robberies in the last 10 years alone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The complaint details some of the ways in which city resources have been severely drained by the opioid epidemic.\u00a0 Allentown\u2019s first responders have been on the front lines of battling this epidemic.\u00a0 EMS, for example, has responded to thousands of emergency calls to rescue those suffering from the effects of opioid abuse.\u00a0 Although EMS bills patients for its services, its paramedics must provide care without regard to a patient\u2019s ability to pay.\u00a0 Consequently, the uncompensated care costs associated with treating overdoses have ballooned, resulting in losses of more than $4 million in just the last nine years.\u00a0 Allentown police officers are increasingly resuscitating overdose victims with Narcan (naloxone), recently placing Lehigh County in the top five counties in Pennsylvania for naloxone administrations by law enforcement.\u00a0 At the same time, in just the last four years, Allentown police officers have suffered dozens of injuries in drug-related encounters, requiring treatment, testing, and time away from work.\u00a0 Of the instances where the nature of the narcotics was determined, more than one-third involved opioids.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The lawsuit also seeks to recover damages incurred as a result of the opioid epidemic on city employees and their families.\u00a0 Certain opioid manufacturers named in the complaint failed to sufficiently inform the City about the severe risks of opioid use while also misrepresenting the comparative safety and efficacy of opioids over competing, safer non-opioid pain relievers.\u00a0 The deception by these defendants were a substantial factor in causing the City, which is a self-insured entity, to pay for opioids for chronic pain in quantities and amounts that it would not have otherwise.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Additionally, wholesale drug distributors owe duties under both federal and Pennsylvania law to monitor, detect, investigate, refuse to fill, and report suspicious orders of prescription opioids.\u00a0 Today\u2019s lawsuit seeks damages from major distributors of opioids for breaching these duties and thereby causing the widespread diversion of prescription opioids for nonmedical purposes into Allentown and the surrounding area.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Today\u2019s lawsuit seeks <\/span>all legal and equitable relief as allowed by law, including, <\/span>injunctive relief requiring each of the defendants to stop their destructive behavior and take constructive steps to reduce opioid addiction in Allentown.\u00a0 In addition, Allentown is seeking to be compensated for numerous damages, including:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Losses caused by the decrease in funding available for public services for which funding was lost because it was diverted to other public services designed to address the opioid epidemic;<\/span><\/p>\n b.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Costs for providing healthcare and medical care, additional therapeutic, and prescription drug purchases, and other treatments for patients suffering from opioid-related addiction or disease, including overdoses and deaths;<\/span><\/p>\n c.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Costs of training emergency and\/or first responders in the proper treatment of drug overdoses, including the administration of naloxone; <\/span><\/p>\n d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Costs associated with emergency responses by police officers, firefighters, and emergency and\/or first responders to opioid overdoses, including the administration of naloxone;<\/span><\/p>\n e.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Costs for providing mental-health services, treatment, counseling, rehabilitation services, and social services to victims of the opioid epidemic and their families;<\/span><\/p>\n f.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Costs associated with law enforcement and public safety relating to the opioid epidemic, including but not limited to attempts to stop the flow of opioids into local communities, to arrest and prosecute street-level dealers, to prevent the current opioid epidemic from spreading and worsening, and to deal with the increased levels of crimes that have directly resulted from the increased homeless and drug-addicted population;<\/span><\/p>\n g.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Costs associated with clean-up of public parks, spaces, and facilities of needles and other debris and detritus of opioid addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n The City of Allentown is represented in this litigation by attorneys Joe Khan and John Grogan of Langer Grogan & Diver P.C., a Philadelphia-based law firm.\u00a0 The firm has been retained on a contingent basis only such that the City will not be indebted to the firm for any legal fees unless and until a recovery is made.\u00a0 A copy of the 264-page suit can be obtained by clicking on the Lawsuit Filed icon on the city website homepage www.allentownpa.gov<\/a> <\/span><\/u>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Information provided to TVL by: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nMike Moore
\nCommunications Manager
\nMayor’s Office
\n435 Hamilton Street
\nAllentown, PA 18101
\nMike.Moore@allentownpa.gov
\nhttp:\/\/www.AllentownPA.gov<\/p>\n
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