FRANKFORT, KY – Attorney General Russell Coleman announced today his latest lawsuit against a corporation behind the worst man-made epidemic in modern medical history.
The Attorney General added Optum Rx and its affiliates to the list of those responsible for the opioid crisis. The group is a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) contracting with the manufacturers of opioids, the pharmacies that dispense them and the third-party payors who pay for them.
According to the Attorney General’s lawsuit, Optum Rx played a central role in the reckless promotion, dispensing, and oversupply of opioids. Optum Rx controls a pharmacy network consisting of approximately 67,000 retail pharmacy locations nationwide.
"Defendants have hidden their conduct through non-transparent business practices and by requiring each entity with whom they conduct business, such as opioid manufacturers, to enter into confidentiality agreements or otherwise keep their agreements confidential,” said the lawsuit.
“No state has been harder hit by the drug crisis than Kentucky. Last year alone, nearly 2,000 Kentuckians died of a drug overdose," Attorney General Coleman said. “These groups pushed a profit-fueled agenda at the expense of Kentucky families, who are left with empty seats at the dinner table. Our Office will continue to hold those behind the drug crisis accountable for their devastating actions.”
This filing amends a previous complaint filed in September against Express Scripts and related entities in Jessamine County Circuit Court. It alleged the groups used deceptive marketing to increase sales of highly addictive drugs, took steps to restrict tools that would have limited the prescription and dispensing of opioids, and dispensed opioids through mail order pharmacies without effective controls in violation of Kentucky and federal law.
Attorney General Coleman is investing funds from previous opioid settlements in youth prevention efforts. Earlier this year, he received unanimous approval from the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission for a two-year, $3.6 million statewide prevention initiative to educate the Commonwealth’s young people about the dangers of drugs. Focusing on positive youth development messages, the “Better Without It” campaign will encourage Kentuckians to avoid drug use.
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