Tinley Park Among 11 IL Towns To Sue Opioid Manufacturers

Tinley Park is part of 11 Illinois towns — most in the Chicago area — to sue several opioid manufacturers and distributors, as well as three former doctors accused of running a Melrose Park "pill mill." The lawsuit alleges "widespread harms and injuries to residents arising from and as a result of defendants’ role in fostering and perpetuating an epidemic of prescription opioid abuse in their communities," according to Edelson PC, the Chicago-based law firm representing the communities.

The complaint was filed Wednesday morning in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago. The municipalities in the lawsuit along with Tinley include: Melrose Park, Bellwood, Berkeley, Berwyn, Chicago Heights, Northlake, Oak Lawn, Pekin, River Forest and Hillside.

The defendants in the lawsuit are:

• Opioid manufacturers: Purdue Pharma L.P., Cephalon Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Insys Therapeutics, Endo Health Solutions Inc., Allergan PLC and Mallinckrodt PLC
• Opioid distributors: AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp.
• Former doctors: Paul Madison, William McMahon and Joseph Giacchino, who ran the now-closed Melrose Park Clinic, which also was known as Riverside Pain Management. All three men had their medical licenses revoked by the state for overprescribing opioids.

According to the lawsuit, opioid makers allegedly engaged in "a years’ long campaign to misrepresent the risks of, and shift public opinion on, the use of prescription opioids to treat chronic non-cancer pain." The suit accuses the manufacturers of aggressively marketing their products, such as OxyContin and vicodin, for unapproved uses, as well as using "phony front groups," sales reps and opinion leaders to grow the market for their medications.

The opioid distributors allegedly failed in providing a check for on the misuse and abuse of their prescription medications, according to the lawsuit. Instead of looking for red flags in opioid ordering, the distributors are accused of going after "blockbuster profits by throwing open the gates and looking the other way, as millions upon millions of doses of prescription opioids flooded into cities, towns, and villages throughout Illinois," the suit states.

"This epidemic and its consequences could and should have been avoided," the complaint states. "However, Defendants — opioid manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and local prescribers — intentionally and negligently created conditions that allowed vast quantities of opioids flow freely to patients Plaintiffs’ communities who should have never obtained them. Instead of truthfully and safely marketing their products, Defendants blindly stoked the engine of opioid prescribing to obtain untold profits from their sales."

The lawsuit is asking for an injunction against the opioid makers and distributors named in the complaint. It's also asking for the defendants to pay unspecified damages.

Tinley Park Mayor Jacob Vanderberg said he was happy that the village was taking an active role when it came to tackling the opioid epidemic.

"For far too long our region and community has suffered from the life-shattering effects of this public health crisis," he said. "I have seen firsthand the devastation opioids do to individuals, families and a community. The Southland region is losing this battle against opioid addiction and we need to take a stand against it. It’s time to hold the companies that manufacture these harmful and addictive drugs accountable.”

The towns filed the suit in Cook County "because our clients feel that they will have more control over the litigation in state court," said Jay Edelson of Edelson PC, which is one of three law firms that has organized a coordinated multi-state opioid litigation coalition. If the communities had filed in federal court, the complaint would have been absorbed into a multi-district opioid lawsuit based in Ohio, the law firm stated.

"This is an epidemic that is felt locally, in our families and communities," Edelson said in a statement. "The case should proceed locally as well."

Madison, one of the former doctors named in the lawsuit, told the Chicago Tribune that the litigation "has become a witch hunt against doctors." The pharmaceutical companies have denied any wrongdoing in other, similar legal actions, according to the Tribune.

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