{"id":14814,"date":"2018-08-30T19:12:35","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T19:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=14814"},"modified":"2018-11-01T19:09:08","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T19:09:08","slug":"amid-opioid-crisis-texas-subsidized-drug-distributor-its-now-investigating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2018\/08\/amid-opioid-crisis-texas-subsidized-drug-distributor-its-now-investigating\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid Opioid Crisis, Texas Subsidized Drug Distributor It’s Now Investigating"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2016, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a $9.75 million grant to McKesson Corporation. Now, Texas is among the states investigating the giant drug distributor’s role in a growing opioid crisis<\/span><\/p>\n

In the early months of 2016, as U.S. overdose deaths were on track to break records and the number of Texas infants born addicted to opioid painkillers climbed steadily higher, Gov.\u00a0Greg Abbott<\/a>\u00a0was courting a massive pharmaceutical company, McKesson, with a multimillion-dollar offer.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time, the two stories \u2014\u00a0Texas public health officials grappling with an overdose epidemic while the governor\u2019s office worked on economic development \u2014 seemed unrelated. When Abbott announced he would give McKesson a $9.75 million grant from the state\u2019s Enterprise Fund to woo the pharmaceutical distributor into expanding its operations in North Texas, he mostly received favorable news coverage for promising nearly 1,000 jobs to the local Irving economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

But as the state and nation\u2019s focus on the opioid crisis has sharpened in recent months, McKesson and other drug companies have come under legal scrutiny and the deal has put Abbott in an uncomfortable position.<\/span><\/p>\n

Texas has since\u00a0joined a multistate investigation<\/a>\u00a0into pharmaceutical companies, including McKesson, over whether they are responsible for feeding the nation’s opioid crisis and whether they\u00a0<\/strong>broke any laws in the process.\u00a0Several Texas counties have moved to sue McKesson and other companies for economic damages, alleging that manufacturers downplayed addiction risks and their\u00a0<\/strong>distributors failed to track suspicious orders that flooded communities with pills.<\/span><\/p>\n

The state\u00a0<\/strong>grant to McKesson, worth about $10,000 for each job it brought to North Texas, is the largest Abbott has doled out from the Enterprise Fund,\u00a0the controversial deal-closing incentives program<\/a>\u00a0created in 2004\u00a0<\/strong>under former Gov.\u00a0Rick Perry<\/a>. No U.S. state or local government has publicly\u00a0given McKesson a more generous grant since 2000,\u00a0according to data compiled by Good Jobs First<\/a>, a Washington D.C.-based group that tracks government subsidies and other economic incentives.<\/span><\/p>\n

In statements at the time, Abbott said the company\u2019s expansion would \u201cserve as an invaluable contribution to the Texas economy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But if Texas decides to sue McKesson, as several of its counties have, lawyers for the state will likely argue the opposite has happened \u2014 at least in the context of the company\u2019s distribution of\u00a0opioids. Across the country, local and state governments have begun to argue they are bearing the financial burden\u00a0<\/strong>associated with opioid\u00a0addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

One state lawmaker suggested Abbott\u2019s office should have more closely scrutinized McKesson\u2019s record before issuing the grant \u2014 even though the grant happened\u00a0<\/strong>more than a year before Attorney General\u00a0Ken\u00a0<\/strong>Paxton<\/a> announced Texas was joining the multistate investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere needs to be better oversight here,\u201d said state Rep.\u00a0Joe Moody<\/a>, an El Paso Democrat and member of the new House panel examining the opioid crisis. \u201cYou\u2019re in the middle of the opioid crisis, and we\u2019re issuing an enormous grant that comprises a significant amount of grants this company is getting across the country.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Abbott\u2019s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Faced with the lawsuits and investigations, McKesson \u2014 headquartered in San Francisco but with a sizable Texas footprint \u2014 has denied any wrongdoing and insisted it is trying to work toward halting\u00a0the opioid crisis, not fuel it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cOur partnership with the state remains strong,\u201d said Kristin Chasen, a company spokeswoman. \u201cWe certainly agree that the opioid epidemic is a national public health crisis, and we\u2019re cooperatively having lots of conversations with AG Paxton and the others involved in the multistate investigation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A nationwide emergency<\/span><\/h3>\n

Opioids are a family of drugs that include prescription painkillers like hydrocodone as well as illicit drugs like heroin. Last Thursday, President Donald Trump declared a nationwide emergency to address the surging human and financial toll of opioid addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. drug overdose deaths in 2015 far outnumbered deaths from auto accidents or guns, and\u00a0opioids account for more than 60 percent of overdose deaths \u2014 nearly 100 each day, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. That death toll has quadrupled over the past two decades.\u00a0
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond the shocking death toll, the terrible measure of the opioid crisis includes the families ripped apart and, for many communities, a generation of lost potential and opportunity,\u201d Trump\u00a0said Thursday<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Texas, opioids have claimed proportionately fewer lives than in other states, and the growth of opioid-related deaths has been slower, according to U.S. mortality data.\u00a0Still, the casualties in Texas \u2014\u00a01,107 accidental opioid poisoning\u00a0deaths<\/a>\u00a0in 2016\u00a0\u2014 have seized the attention of state policymakers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, Texas House Speaker\u00a0Joe Straus<\/a>\u00a0ordered lawmakers to form a select committee on opioids and substance abuse to examine an issue that he said has had a \u201cdevastating impact on many lives.\u201d The announcement came after\u00a0Paxton<\/a>\u00a0joined a 41-state investigation into whether a slew of drug manufacturers and distributors broke any laws in allegedly fueling the crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a public safety and public health issue. Opioid painkiller abuse and related overdoses are devastating families here in Texas and throughout the country,\u201d Paxton said when he announced the probe in June.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Some Texas counties have already taken the drug companies to court.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In late September, Upshur County, population about 40,000,\u00a0sued a slew of painkiller manufacturers and distributors<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 including McKesson. Seeking to recoup an unspecified amount in financial damages, the East Texas county argues the drug companies broadly \u201cignored science and consumer health for profits,\u201d meaning the county \u201ccontinues to spend large sums combatting the public health crisis created by [a] negligent and fraudulent marketing campaign.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More specifically, the suit argues McKesson and other distributors \u201cdid nothing\u201d to address the \u201calarming and suspicious\u201d overprescription of drugs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bowie County, a rural slice of East Texas nudging Arkansas, has since joined the lawsuit, with other East Texas counties expected to follow. El Paso County isalso mulling legal action<\/a>, and Bexar County, home to San Antonio, has\u00a0announced plans to sue<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an interview last week, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said he couldn\u2019t immediately offer a complete list of companies his county would target, but \u201cI\u2019m sure McKesson is one of them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wolff chuckled when asked about the company\u2019s grant from the state. \u201cThat\u2019d give us $10 million more that we could get out of their hides in our lawsuit, if you look at it that way.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In teaming up to probe drug companies, some experts suggest governments are following a playbook similar to one used during the 1990s to sue tobacco companies for their role in fueling a costly health crisis \u2014 an effort that resulted in a settlement yielding more than $15 billion for Texas alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a polluter externalizing all his risk,\u201d said Mike Papantonio, a Florida-based lawyer with experience in tobacco litigation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe makes a lot of money because he pours the poison right into the river,\u201d said Papantonio, who now organizes a legal conference for groups interested in suing pharmaceutical companies. \u201cThe shareholders love it, but then the taxpayers have to come back and fix it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMcKesson is a great company”<\/span><\/h3>\n

At the April grand opening of the new McKesson campus in Las Colinas, near Irving, local leaders gathered alongside Abbott and company executives for a ribbon-cutting at the $157 million, 525,000-square foot campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMcKesson is a great company,\u201d Abbott said on the stage of a large meeting room at the newly renovated headquarters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am proud of the work McKesson is doing,\u201d he went on, \u201cand make a commitment of my own to continue to ensure Texas attracts further business and expanding enterprise.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Beth Van Duyne, then the mayor of Irving, now a U.S. Housing and Urban Development administrator under Trump, defended the city\u2019s decision to give the pharmaceutical company a more than $2 million incentives package on top of the state\u2019s Enterprise Fund gift.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving to offer incentives is always a difficult decision to make, but as long as the return on that investment is strong, we can support it,\u201d Van Duyne said in a\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0recorded from the grand opening.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the promise of taxpayer funds came before Paxton launched his investigation, Moody, the Democratic lawmaker, said Abbott\u2019s office should more carefully vet companies before granting them taxpayer money, and in McKesson’s case, it should have considered the drug company’s alleged role in the opioid crisis.
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know there\u2019s a problem with drug distribution. These drugs being taken out of the regular route, finding their way into other people\u2019s hands \u2014 leading to deaths, leading to overdoses,” he said, later adding,\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s unrealistic to ask that to be part of the evaluation at all. Part of the conversation of growing the economy is what types of companies, businesses do you want?”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

State Rep.\u00a0Kevin Roberts<\/a>, a Houston Republican and fellow member of the House panel studying opioids, said he did not know what went into Abbott\u2019s decision making, so he couldn\u2019t comment on the wisdom of the grant. But he agreed that the state should also consider wider issues when deciding which businesses are awarded grants from the enterprise fund.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe that there is some ethical responsibility in that process as well,\u201d he said. \u201cJust because things look profitable doesn\u2019t mean you do them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact that McKesson got the state grant doesn’t shield it\u00a0from liability if Texas ultimately files an opioid lawsuit, Roberts added. \u201cIf General Paxton goes forward, the fact that they got a TEF grant does not excuse them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pressure to act<\/span><\/h3>\n

McKesson is also facing legal challenges outside of Texas.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a recent report to the U.S.\u00a0<\/strong>Securities and Exchange Commission, the company noted an opioid-related lawsuit brought by the State of West Virginia and nine similar complaints filed in state and federal courts in West Virginia against McKesson and other large distributors.\u00a0McKesson also listed a federal lawsuit in which the Cherokee Nation alleges the company oversupplied drugs to its population.<\/span><\/p>\n

In January, McKesson\u00a0agreed to pay $150 million<\/a>\u00a0and revamp its compliance procedures to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice after\u00a0prosecutors alleged the company failed to detect and report \u201csuspicious orders\u201d of opioids.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company paid $13.25 million to\u00a0settle a similar Justice Department suit in 2008<\/a>.\u00a0McKesson did not admit wrongdoing in either case.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chasen, the spokeswoman, said McKesson is \u201creally proud of our controlled substances monitoring program today,\u201d and the recent scrutiny addresses conduct \u201cthat was really far in the past at this point.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Chasen added that the company reports all orders “in real time” to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, flagging suspicious ones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Kinzly, a co-founder of the Texas Overdose Naloxone Initiative, which educates police officers and the public on overdose prevention, has been critical of the state\u2019s mixed response to the opioid epidemic.\u00a0<\/strong>In 2015, for example, Abbott drew the ire of Kinzly and other\u00a0advocates when he vetoed a \u201cGood Samaritan\u201d bill that would have protected someone from prosecution, even if they possessed a small amount of drugs, when they called 911 to help a friend in the throes of overdose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abbott said at the time that the bill had an admirable goal but did not include \u201cadequate protections to prevent its misuse by habitual drug abusers and drug dealers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kinzly said Trump\u2019s declaration of a national opioid emergency may lead more politicians to demonstrate support for expanding drug treatment programs. \u201cThat will put some pressure on Republican governors, I would imagine,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump, for his part, suggested Thursday that pharmaceutical companies remained in the federal government’s crosshairs.<\/span><\/p>\n

“What they have and what they’re doing to our people is unheard of,” he said.\u00a0\u201cWe will be bringing some very major lawsuits against people and against companies that are hurting our people.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2017\/10\/31\/during-opioid-crisis-texas-subsidized-drug-company-its-now-investigati\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

October 2017<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2016, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a $9.75 million grant to McKesson Corporation. Now, Texas is among the states investigating the giant drug distributor’s role in a growing opioid crisis In the early months of 2016, as U.S. overdose deaths were on track to break records and the number of Texas infants born addicted to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,34,104,27,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economic","category-heroin-methadone","category-political-sector","category-social-affairs-papers","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}