Five drug companies are pushing back against a state investigation of allegedly questionable opioid marketing practices, arguing the discovery process could cause undue harm, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.
New Hampshire Attorney General Joe Foster says the five companies--Actavis, Endo, Janssen, Teva and Purdue Pharma--are staging a courtroom battle against a subpoena he issued last year over allegedly questionable marketing practices. The state has requested nearly one million pages in marketing documents, but has yet to receive a response from any of the companies.
Defense attorneys argue that New Hampshire’s subpoena could cause “collateral consequences” from regulatory agencies and the general public by exposing their marketing practices during discovery, according to NHPR.
New Hampshire reignited its investigation into opioid marketing practices in May, after the state’s initial attempt was challenged by the drug makers in court last year. Several pharmaceutical companies are also facing legal action from Mississippi, the City of Chicago, and two counties in Southern California, which could lead to a new round of large settlements.
Prosecutors believe that illegal marketing practices led to the state’s current opioid and heroin epidemics.“Ya gotta ask yourself, ‘Why? Why are they fighting so hard?'” New Hampshire’s lead investigator James Boffetti argued in court.
- read the NHPR article