Kentucky accuses Endo of contributing to opioid epidemic

Kentucky yesterday accused units of Endo International Plc of contributing to drug overdoses and an opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing its painkiller Opana ER, in the latest lawsuit against the drugmaker.

According to Kentucky attorney general Steve Beshear, the lawsuit would seek to hold Endo responsible for illegally building a market for the long-term use of opioids in the state as it sought to boost corporate profits.

According to the lawsuit filed in a state court in Kentucky, Endo sought to overstate the benefits of using Opana for the long-term treatment of chronic pain even as it downplayed the risk of addiction, helping to fuel a public health epidemic.

''My office refuses to sit back and watch families be torn apart while opioid manufacturers like Endo line their pockets at the expense of our communities and our future,'' Beshear said in a statement.

According to a statement by Endo's chief legal officer, Matthew Maletta, Beshear's allegation that the drugmaker was trying to profit at the expense of people's health was ''patently offensive.''

''We intend to vigorously defend the company against the claims set forth in this lawsuit,'' Maletta said.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have said that opioids were involved in over 33,000 deaths in 2015, the latest year for which data is available. Estimates show that the figures have been rising.

Beshear yesterday said that "Endo put its profits above the lives of our people and above patient safety," CNN reported.

The lawsuit states that in 2010, according to the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, 2 per cent of overdose deaths in the state were due to oxymorphone, the active ingredient in Opana ER. The number next year, had however risen to 23 per cent of all overdoses.

Among the people who died due to Opana ER overdose in 2012 was 21-year-old TJ Walden, who was in the Kentucky National Guard. His mother, Emily Walden, said yesterday at Beshear's news conference, "It is time that Endo pay for their actions that have led to death and destruction throughout Kentucky and across our entire country."