[A]ttorney General TJ Donovan has filed a lawsuit against two pharmaceutical distributors that he says failed to fulfill their legal duty to monitor and control the sale of opioids in Vermont.
Donovan filed the 129-page suit Tuesday against Cardinal Health and McKesson Corp. in Chittenden County Superior Court. It is the second lawsuit he has filed against companies he says are responsible for accelerating the opioid epidemic to Vermont — the first was a September lawsuit filed against opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma.
“By law, these companies, McKesson and Cardinal Health, are supposed to be the gatekeepers to keep out the flow of opiates in this state,” Donovan said. “Essentially, they opened the gate and let the flood of these pills … overwhelm the state of Vermont.”
In 2015, Donovan said, 500,000 pills came into the state despite Vermont’s population being just more than 600,000, Donovan said.
He said it is the distributors’ job to be the first line of defense and to use their data on distribution to stop that kind of over-saturation. But instead, McKesson and Cardinal Health used the information to target potential customers and develop ways to increase market share, Donovan said.
“Not only were their systems flawed, they didn’t even adhere to their own flawed systems,” Donovan said. “As a result, they failed to notify regulators about increasing indicators of widespread diversion that should have been apparent from their own distribution and sales data. So the opiate epidemic continued to grow unchecked and went on for years.”
Representatives of McKesson and Cardinal Health misled Congress about the extent of their marketing and promotion of the drugs, Donovan said.
The lawsuit accuses the distributors of unfair and disruptive practices, negligence and being a public nuisance. Each of the company’s violations faces a maximum penalty of $10,000. Donovan said he’s considering each individual pill as a violation, meaning his office is seeking millions of dollars in penalties.
“As the investigation continues, we are looking at every piece of evidence, every piece of data to see who’s responsible,” Donovan said. “This is a priority for our state that’s been devastated by this. Too many people have died, too many lives have been ruined, and we need to hold the people accountable who started this crisis.”
Vermont is also involved in a multi-state investigation into manufacturers and distributors, and multidistrict litigation coming directly from cities and towns. Twelve other states have filed lawsuits against opioid distributors directly. Several cases have been filed against McKesson and Cardinal Health.
McKesson said in a statement the company has “strong programs designed to detect and prevent opioid diversion within the pharmaceutical supply chain,” and that it only distributes to state licensed, DEA registered pharmacies. The company said it was working on a series of initiatives and public policy recommendations to address the epidemic, and has donated $100 million to the Foundation for Opioid Epidemic Response.
The Healthcare Distribution Alliance, the national trade association representing wholesale distributors such as McKesson and Cardinal Health, said distributors do not “manufacture, prescribe or in any way, drive demand” of opioids.
“The misuse and abuse of prescription opioids is a complex public health challenge that requires a collaborative and systemic response that engages all stakeholders,” said John Parker, senior vice president of communications for HDA in a statement. “Given our role, the idea that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and is regulated. Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation.”
Donovan said this will not be the last lawsuit filed against companies involved in the opioid crisis.
“Everything’s on the table,” Donovan said. “This is unacceptable.”
