Purdue Pharma sued by New Hampshire AG office over deceptive marketing

The New Hampshire attorney general's office sued Purdue Pharma yesterday, over allegations that the drug manufacturer has continued its deceptive marketing of OxyContin in a state that has been called the ''ground zero'' of the opioid epidemic.

The state alleged in a civil complaint that Purdue Pharma, while downplaying the risk of addiction of the drug, overstated its effectiveness, claimed it is nearly impossible to abuse and failed to report shady prescribers.

This comes as the latest action by state, county and local governments against prescription opioid manufacturers who allegedly indulged in fraud and deceptive marketing.

The attorney general's office has been investigating half a dozen drug companies and their marketing practices for two years. The opioid problem has continued to grow over the time with nearly 500 people dying of overdoses in 2016 - a nearly 10-fold increase since 2000.

The state was termed ''ground zero'' by the deputy administrator of the US Drug Enforcement Administration for the crisis. 

''To defeat the epidemic, we must stop creating new users, and part of that is making sure these highly addictive and dangerous drugs are marketed truthfully and without deception and in such a way as not to minimise addiction risks or overstate benefits to patients,'' said deputy attorney general Ann Rice, AP reported.

The lawsuit filed in Merrimack County Superior Court claimed that Purdue Pharma significantly downplayed the associated risks of OxyContin addiction and engaged in marketing practices that "opened the floodgates" to opioid use and abuse.

The lawsuit follows a state top court ruling that set aside a ruling barring the enforcement of subpoenas against Purdue and four other drugmakers because of the use of a private law firm by the office of the attorney general.

According to the complaint, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company had spent hundreds of millions of dollars since the 1990s on misleading marketing that overstated the benefits of opioids for treating chronic, rather than short-term, pain.