Pharmaceutical Distributors, Manufacturers Taken to Court

(Fall 2016) The state of West Virginia is suing the nation’s largest drug supplier, McKesson Corporation, contending that the firm dispenses painkillers carelessly and incentivizes drug sales, e.g., offering additional monetary rewards for oxycodone and hydrocodone sales even though the state is inundated with painkillers.

The city of Chicago has also filed a lawsuit against five drug companies, claiming that their advertisements misrepresented opioids. Pfizer, one of the world’s leading drug manufacturers, is not among the defendants in the case but has come forward to assist the city with its inquiry and the litigation. Pfizer has also made it a policy to follow stringent guidelines for advertising its prescription opioids. For example, it states in its marketing materials that the use of opioid painkillers can lead to addiction even when used as directed. Pfizer will avoid endorsing “off-label” uses of the drug for unapproved conditions such as chronic back pain, and the company concedes that reliable research on the drugs’ efficacy beyond three months does not currently exist.

In a move that seems to run counter to the goal of these suits, Congress approved the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016 this April. This legislation curbs the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) ability to investigate pharmacies and wholesalers it suspects are adding to the opioid epidemic. Chain pharmacies and drug distributors charged that DEA probes damaged their business when the agency closed pharmacies identified as a go-to for addicted individuals seeking additional opiate drugs. The new measure permits companies suspected of not filing reports of suspicious prescription drug orders to submit a “corrective action plan” to the DEA. This stalls or stops the agency’s actions against them. Individuals against the measure say that it could further perpetuate the nation’s opioid epidemic.

In 2014, approximately 19,000 individuals perished from opioid overdoses not involving heroin.

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