Dane County has filed suit in federal court against the nation’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors for their role in creating a widespread diversion of prescription opiates for nonmedical purposes.
“The opioid epidemic has taken a tremendous toll on our community – lives have been lost, families have been hurt, and Dane County taxpayers have shouldered the tremendous cost of trying to manage this growing crisis,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi in a statement. “We need more resources to help our friends and neighbors who are addicted to these dangerous drugs and help prevent more innocent people from Dane County from falling through the cracks. Today’s action demands accountability from the corporations that have fueled this vicious cycle of widespread addiction in our County.”
Dane County has struggled to manage a rising number of drug overdose cases, including a high number of overdose deaths. From 2000 to 2016, opioid-involved overdose deaths in the county went from 13 to 85. Additionally, in 2015, Dane County had 443 ambulance runs in which naloxone was administered to overdose patients, the second-highest amount in the state of Wisconsin.
The rise in overdose cases aligns with the dramatic uptick in opioids dispensed throughout the county. According to the state’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, more than 300,000 opioid prescriptions have been dispensed for Dane County residents each year since 2013, even though the County’s is only home to approximately 500,000 residents.
In the suit, Dane County alleges that many of the nation’s largest drug manufacturers pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids, and deliberately misinformed doctors by claiming that patients using the drugs rarely experienced addiction.
