No cost to taxpayers as county sues opioid manufacturers
Dauphin County commissioners today retained a law firm to take to court companies believed to be manufacturing and aggressively marketing addictive opioids.
And it won't cost the taxpayers anything.
Commissioners Jeff Haste, Mike Pries and George P. Hartwick, III first announced on Friday that they intended to sign on with Young, Ricchiuti, Caldwell & Heller, LLC to pursue civil action against these manufacturers to cover some of the costs for addiction prevention and treatment.
The county officially retained the firm today to pursue this lawsuit on a contingency basis, meaning taxpayers will not be responsible for legal costs and the county will share in any monrey that is recovered.
All recovered funds will go towards paying for drug abuse treatment and prevention programs, commissioners say.
"We see an addiction epidemic caused in large part by the aggressive marketing of opioids by big pharma,'' Commissioner Haste said. "It's time these drug companies take responsibility and pay to help undo some of the damage they caused."
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/09/county_signs_on_to_sue_opioid.html#incart_river_home
