New Hampshire Investigates Opioid Marketing

(Winter 2015) The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office is looking into potentially misleading marketing claims by prescription opioid manufacturers that could ultimately result in lawsuits against the companies. The crux of the case is whether the drug makers downplayed the dangers of potential opioid addiction while overselling the therapeutic value of their products as a long-term treatment for chronic pain.

The investigation comes on the heels of 325 opioid-related overdose deaths in New Hampshire in 2014. The state’s governor, Maggie Hassan, views the scrutiny as a way to both shine the light on the “addictive nature” of these drugs and underscore their dangers to both doctors and patients.

Additionally, Hassan is proposing emergency rules on the dispensation of pain relievers due to growing heroin abuse in the state. Ideas run the gamut from limiting opioid prescriptions to a five-day supply to restricting fentanyl (an extremely potent opioid) prescriptions to cancer patients only. The emergency measure would skirt usual public input and be in effect for six months, pending a formal adoption of the rules.

New Hampshire’s prescription drug manufacturing program manager, Michelle Ricco Jonas, stated that over 13 million doses of Schedule II painkillers were dispensed by state pharmacies in the second quarter of 2015 alone.

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