By: Scott Carroll, Janelle Lilley (KATV Ch. 7 News) www.katv.com

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — The Association of Arkansas Counties on Thursday afternoon became the second statewide group to file a federal lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors over how the companies market and sell the drugs. 

The group joins the Arkansas Municipal League in suing the companies. Both organizations have accused the companies of downplaying the risks of opioids, particularly addiction, and exaggerating the benefits of the drugs.

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They used false data and bad information to market to doctors that opioids were now safe for long-term treatment,” said AAC Executive Director Chris Villines.

The groups claim those practices have created a public health crisis in Arkansas and across the country that has led to physical harm and financial ruin for countless opioid users.

“For years, we’ve been paying local tax money to help handle overcrowded jails, overcrowded hospitals, put more deputies on the streets, so it’s really stretched the means of these counties to razor-thin layers,” Villines said.

Thirteen opioid manufacturers and distributors are listed as defendants in the lawsuits. Among the companies are Johnson & Johnson; Purdue Pharma; McKesson Corporation; Cardinal Health; Belgium-based Janssen Pharmaceuticals Ireland-based Activis Pharma.

In addition to the AAC’s lawsuit in federal court, Villines said Arkansas’ 75 counties will each file suit in their respective circuit court and will seek punitive damages specific to their county. He said AAC has hired a law firm from Alabama with experience in these cases to help the counties manage the lawsuits.

The suit says drug manufacturers “falsely and misleadingly” marketed opioids and persuaded doctors to over-prescribe the drugs through “front groups,” seemingly independent medical organizations that were actually paid by the drug-makers, and a small circle of influential and pro-opioid doctors known as “key opinion leaders.”

The Arkansas Municipal League compared the companies’ tactics to those of tobacco companies. The group, which represents more than 400 cities and towns in Arkansas, filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas earlier this week. It voluntarily dismissed, or withdrew, that lawsuit on Wednesday for a technical reason, but the municipal league plans to re-file the lawsuit in federal court.

The Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a national group that represents some of the distributors named as defendants, said in a statement Thursday that the companies are “deeply engaged in the issue and are taking our own steps to be part of the solution – but we aren’t willing to be scapegoats.”

“We don’t make medicines, market medicines, prescribe medicines, or dispense them to consumers,” John Parker, the group’s senior vice president, said in the statement. “Given our role, the idea that distributors are solely responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and how it is regulated.”

Drug-makers have denied wrongdoing in similar lawsuits.

Chicago, Seattle and Indianapolis are among the municipalities that have sued opioid manufacturers in recent years, according to reports.

Arkansas has the second-highest opioid prescription rate in the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency reported the rate to be 114.6 opioid prescriptions per 100 people. The national average is 66.5 prescriptions per 100 people.

Villines said the drugs have been over-prescribed.

“They went way beyond what a normal opioid prescription had been prior to that and started marketing, I’ve heard from some of our coroners, up to 90-day supplies of opioids have been given out,” he said. “And the research that we’ve seen shows that you can be addicted to opioids in as little as five days.”

There were about 108 opioid-related deaths in Arkansas last year, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.

From the distribution of 3,300 Narcan kits to first responder agencies throughout Arkansas, 91 lives have been saved since Jan. 1, 2018. Among the items contained in a Narcan kit are two Naloxone nasal sprays, an opioid antagonist used to reverse the effects of an opioid induced overdose.

“Our goal is to get the life-saving naloxone kits in the hands of all first responders in the state, which includes them completing a training program,” Arkansas Drug Director Kirk Lane said. “In the near future, we also want to distribute naloxone kits to various people in society. When a life is saved with naloxone, there is hope for recovery.”

The 1,300 Narcan kits were provided by the Criminal Justice Institute through a grant provided by the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas.

Though it should be used in an emergency situation (a suspected opioid overdose), Naloxone has no effect on non-opioid overdoses. Naloxone is available for purchase at some pharmacies in Arkansas.

To reduce the morbidity and mortality of opioid overdoses in Arkansas, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has a standing order [Arkansas Code § 17-92- 101(16)] allowing Arkansas-licensed pharmacists to initiate naloxone therapy including ordering, dispensing and/or administering naloxone, along with any necessary supplies for administration, to eligible persons who are at risk of experiencing an opioid-related overdose, or who are family members, friends, or others who are in a position to assist a person at risk of experiencing an opioid-related overdose.

Arkansas is 1 of 40 states exercising the Good Samaritan Overdose Immunity Laws, which encourages people to seek out medical attention for an overdose or for follow-up care after naloxone has been administered. These laws generally provide immunity from arrest, charge or prosecution for certain controlled substance possession and paraphernalia offenses when a person who is either experiencing an opiate-related overdose or observing one calls 911 for assistance or seeks medical attention. For more information: http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/drug-overdose-immunity-good-samaritan-laws.aspx.

This “How to talk to your doctor handbook” is provided by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Research & Extension, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Center for Health Literacy. Download a copy here:

Nearly 146 tons of prescription medications have been collected in the state since the first Arkansas Prescription Drug Take Back Day in 2010! Starting off 2018 with a bang, Arkansans donated more than 28 thousand pounds of medications on April 28!

Justin King, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA-Little Rock District Office, said that, “Altogether, the 15 Prescription drug take back events have produced the return of almost 146 tons of unneeded medications, estimated at 406.2 million pills. Due to the commitment, dedication, and effort of the Arkansas Law Enforcement Community, its partners, and the multi-agency coalition, and due to excellent participation by Arkansans in all areas of the state, the take back events have been successful above and beyond all expectations.”

BACKGROUND:

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), as part of its National Drug Control Strategy, called for an increase of prescription drug return and disposal programs as a means to curbing prescription drug abuse. In early 2010, a coalition led by the State Drug Director, the Attorney General, both Arkansas Districts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and numerous federal, local, and state agencies, prevention professionals, and private organizations, launched an ongoing education program to encourage everyone to “Monitor, Secure, and Dispose” their prescription medications.

As part of the “Monitor, Secure, and Dispose” effort, the coalition organized Arkansas’s participation in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Take-Back Initiative, and take back events took place on September 25, 2010, April 30, 2011, October 29, 2011, April 28, 2012, September 29, 2012, April 27, 2013, October 26, 2013, April 26, 2014, and September 27, 2014. DEA announced the discontinuation of the national initiative in September 2014, but an Arkansas take back event under the leadership of partners within the state was held on April 25, 2015. DEA then reinstated the program nationally, and events since have been held on September 26, 2015, April 30, 2016, October 22, 2016, April 29, 2017, October 28, 2017, and April 28,2018. DISCLAIMER: **Collectively, there have been 16 total Arkansas prescription drug take back events: one local and 15 national events. Results from the State Take Back in Spring 2015 were rolled into the total results for National Take Back 10 held September 26, 2015.

STATISTICAL INFORMATION:

Including all 15 events:

* Arkansas ranks #3 nationally in pounds collected per capita with 0.097 pounds per person, just barely behind Wisconsin with 0.101 pounds per person and Maine with 0.244 pounds per person. (Determined using 2017 census estimates)

* Despite being just thirty-third in population among all states, Arkansas ranks #13 in total weight collected.

* Arkansas averaged 62 more law enforcement agencies per event than the national average.

* Also, per event, Arkansas averaged 182 collection sites – the national average per state was 116 per event.

* The four-state DEA region consisting of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi pooled a total weight of 442,050 pounds for all 15 Take Backs. Arkansas, despite being the least populated of the four:

1. Accounts for 66% of the total weight, collecting 141,298 pounds more than the other three states combined;

2. Averages more participating law enforcement agencies than the other three states combined; and,

3. Accounts for 52% of the region’s total sites for Take Back 15.

For Take Back 15, only:

* Arkansas ranks #13 nationally in weight collected.

* Per capita, Arkansas continues to rank 5th in weight collected. Maine ranks #1, followed by New Hampshire,Wisconsin and Vermont, respectively.

* Arkansas ranks 10th in the number of registered collection sites and 9th in the number of participating law enforcement agencies.

* Per capita, Arkansas ranks 4th in registered collection sites and 3rd in participating law enforcement agencies.

***Official totals will not be available for a few days*****

WASHINGTON – Americans nationwide did their part to drop off a record number of unused, unwanted or expired prescription medications during the DEA’s 15th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, at close to 6,000 sites across the country. Together with a record-setting amount of local, state and federal partners, DEA collected and destroyed close to one million pounds—nearly 475 tons—of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs, making it the most successful event in DEA history.

This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,964,714 pounds, or 4,982 tons.

“Today we are facing the worst drug crisis in American history, with one American dying of a drug overdose every nine minutes,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “An unprecedented crisis like this one demands an unprecedented response–and that’s why President Trump has made this issue a priority for this administration. DEA’s National Drug Take Back Days are important opportunities for people to turn in unwanted and potentially addictive drugs with no questions asked. These Take Back Days continue to break records, with the latest taking nearly 1 million pounds of prescription drugs off of our streets. And so I want to thank DEA and especially every American who participated in this event. I have no doubt it will help keep drugs out of the wrong hands and stop the spread of addiction.”

“National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is a day for every American, in every community across the country, to come together and do his or her part to fight the opioid crisis – simply by disposing of unwanted prescription medications from their medicine cabinets,” said DEA Acting Administrator Robert W. Patterson. “This event – our 15th – brings us together with local, state and federal partners to fight the abuse of prescription drugs that is fueling the nation’s opioid epidemic.”

Now in its 9th year, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day events continue to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medicines from the nation’s homes, where they could be stolen and abused by family members and visitors, including children and teens.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

DEA launched its prescription drug take back program when both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration advised the public that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—posed potential safety and health hazards.

Helping people to dispose of potentially harmful prescription drugs is just one way DEA is working to reduce the addiction and overdose deaths plaguing this country due to opioid medications.

Complete results for DEA’s fall Take Back Day are available at www.deatakeback.com. DEA’s next Prescription Drug Take Back Day is October 27, 2018.