In January of 2018, Baltimore City filed a lawsuit against two opioid manufacturers, McKesson Corp. and Purdue Pharma, as well as several Maryland-based distributors of drugs produced by these companies.[1]Baltimore City joined a long list of states and counties within Maryland who have filed lawsuits against these manufacturers.[2]Baltimore City claimed that the defendants were fraudulently glossing over the potential dangers of using their opioid based drugs in their marketing practices.[3]More specifically, the plaintiff alleges that the companies knew of the addictive and dangerous nature of the drugs they produce and market and downplayed the risks that these drugs pose to people’s health. This left the public unable to understand the addictive nature of the drugs and the effects they can have on their health.[4]The lawsuit further accuses the defendants of marketing their products in a way that encouraged the use of their products to treat chronic pain, and that the manufacturers have supplied a quantity of opioids that exceeds the needs of any legitimate market.[5]This lawsuit against opioid manufacturers is an effort to combat the rise in opioid related overdoses and deaths in Baltimore City and the surrounding counties.[6]However, the opioid manufacturers are fighting back.

In September 2018, and again on January 3, 2019, the pharmaceutical companies attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed.[7]In September, attorneys for the pharmaceutical companies argued that some of the city’s claims were preempted by federal law, that the actions of the manufacturers’ were not proven by the city to be the proximate cause of the injuries alleged in the lawsuit and that the manufacturers’ conduct did not present a public nuisance.[8]A ruling has not yet been issued on these motions to dismiss.[9]On January 3, 2019, the opioid manufacturers brought another set of motions based on their claims that pleading and causation issues exist with the lawsuit filed against them.[10]Baltimore City countered that the pleadings contained tremendous detail and that each manufacturer knows what it is being accused of.[11]They also claim that flooding the market with highly addictive opioid drugs like these leads to the foreseeable creation of a secondary market for the drugs and that it is foreseeable that the city will end up bearing the costs and burdens of combatting this market.[12]Again, the judge deferred his judgement on the motions to a later date.[13]

If this lawsuit is able to move forward it could greatly help Baltimore City and the surrounding counties. Opioid overdoses and deaths have been on the rise for the past several years, and it is becoming an epidemic. If manufacturers are limited in the quantities they are able to release, then this would cut down on the number of opioids available in the secondary market and through doctors. This in turn should help reduce the number of overdoses and deaths from opioids due to the sheer lack of availability. Baltimore City has been looking for a way to do this and this lawsuit could be exactly what they’ve been searching for. Holding opioid manufacturers accountable for the number of opioids they’re releasing to the public will hopefully cause them to be more restrictive. Again, this would lead to less availability of opioids and hopefully a decline in opioid related overdoses and deaths.

[1]Jonathan Munshaw, Baltimore City to File Lawsuit Against Opioid Companies in State Court, Baltimore Business Journal(January 31, 2018, 4:53 p.m.),https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2018/01/31/baltimore-city-suing-opioid-makers-purdue-mckesson.html.

[2]Jonathan Munshaw, Baltimore City to File Lawsuit Against Opioid Companies in State Court, Baltimore Business Journal(January 31, 2018, 4:53 p.m.), https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2018/01/31/baltimore-city-suing-opioid-makers-purdue-mckesson.html.

[3]Jonathan Munshaw, Baltimore City to File Lawsuit Against Opioid Companies in State Court, Baltimore Business Journal(January 31, 2018, 4:53 p.m.), https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2018/01/31/baltimore-city-suing-opioid-makers-purdue-mckesson.html.

[4]Sponsored Post Staff, City of Baltimore Opens a New Front in the Battle Against Opioid Abuse, Baltimore Fishbowl(September 24, 2018),  https://baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/city-of-baltimore-opens-a-new-front-in-the-battle-against-opioid-abuse/.

[5]Heather Cobun, Opioid Industry Continues Push to Dismiss Baltimore’s Lawsuit, The Daily Record(January 3, 2019), https://thedailyrecord-com.proxy-bl.researchport.umd.edu/2019/01/03/opioid-lawsuit-baltimore-mtd/.

[6]https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2018/01/31/baltimore-city-suing-opioid-makers-purdue-mckesson.html

[7]Anamika Roy, Opioid Manufacturers, Distributors Seek Dismissal of Baltimore’s Lawsuit, The Daily Record(September 6, 2018), https://thedailyrecord-com.proxy-bl.researchport.umd.edu/2018/09/06/opioid-lawsuit-baltimore-motion-to-dismiss/.

[8]Anamika Roy, Opioid Manufacturers, Distributors Seek Dismissal of Baltimore’s Lawsuit, The Daily Record(September 6, 2018), https://thedailyrecord-com.proxy-bl.researchport.umd.edu/2018/09/06/opioid-lawsuit-baltimore-motion-to-dismiss/.

[9]Heather Cobun, Opioid Industry Continues Push to Dismiss Baltimore’s Lawsuit, The Daily Record(January 3, 2019), https://thedailyrecord-com.proxy-bl.researchport.umd.edu/2019/01/03/opioid-lawsuit-baltimore-mtd/.

[10]Heather Cobun, Opioid Industry Continues Push to Dismiss Baltimore’s Lawsuit, The Daily Record(January 3, 2019), https://thedailyrecord-com.proxy-bl.researchport.umd.edu/2019/01/03/opioid-lawsuit-baltimore-mtd/.

[11]Heather Cobun, Opioid Industry Continues Push to Dismiss Baltimore’s Lawsuit, The Daily Record(January 3, 2019), https://thedailyrecord-com.proxy-bl.researchport.umd.edu/2019/01/03/opioid-lawsuit-baltimore-mtd/.

[12]Heather Cobun, Opioid Industry Continues Push to Dismiss Baltimore’s Lawsuit, The Daily Record(January 3, 2019), https://thedailyrecord-com.proxy-bl.researchport.umd.edu/2019/01/03/opioid-lawsuit-baltimore-mtd/.

[13]Heather Cobun, Opioid Industry Continues Push to Dismiss Baltimore’s Lawsuit, The Daily Record(January 3, 2019), https://thedailyrecord-com.proxy-bl.researchport.umd.edu/2019/01/03/opioid-lawsuit-baltimore-mtd/.