DA Bryant Dunaway joins four other prosecutors in lawsuit against opioid manufacturers

January 23, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway of the Thirteenth Judicial District, who represents DeKalb County, has joined four other DA’s in suing a group of opioid producers and others, alleging a “fraudulent campaign” to flood their communities with addictive pills.

The district attorney generals of Tennessee’s Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-Second and Thirty-First Judicial Districts jointly filed the lawsuit Wednesday, January 10 in the Cumberland County Circuit Court.

Crossville was chosen for the filing location because the Cumberland Plateau communities are the hardest hit by opioid abuse in Tennessee which has the second highest statewide opioid prescription rate in the nation, according to a press release from the district attorneys.

“Tennessee doctors wrote more than 7.8 million opioid prescriptions in 2015,” DA Dunaway, said in the press release. “That’s more prescriptions than Tennessee has residents — men, women and children combined.”

Counties could chose to bring their own suits but DeKalb County attorney, Hilton Conger told the county commission Monday night, that he thought it best to let the District Attorney Generals pursue the legal battle.

“We’ve been approached by at least two law firms asking us to employ them to do the same thing (file lawsuit) but we knew this was coming. General Dunaway told us they (DA’s) were putting this together (lawsuit) so in my opinion we’re better off just letting them (DAs) fight this battle for us than private counsel,” said Conger.
“What we (county) hope to gain out of it is reimbursement for all the services including jails, hospitals, ambulance, emergency services and that sort of thing that can be tied into and attributed to opioid abuse ,” added Conger.

Unintentional overdose deaths now account for more early deaths in Tennessee than automobile accidents, suicides or homicides, and the vast majority of the state’s overdose deaths involve opioids — nearly 72 percent, as recorded in 2015, the press release says. Among the 19 counties named, more than 1 million opioid prescriptions were filled in 2016. The same region recorded 550 opioid-related overdose deaths from 2012 to 2016.

The defendants include prescription opioid producer Purdue Pharma L.P. and its related companies, along with Mallinckrodt LLC, Endo Health Solutions Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. Additional defendants are alleged “pill mills” Montclair Health & Wellness LLC d/b/a Specialty Associates and North Alabama Pain Services LLC, plus David Florence, Mark Murphy and Nathan Paul Haskins, who are alleged to have diverted and illegally sold opioids throughout the state, the lawsuit says.

The latest suit alleges Florence, aka “DocStar” of a former reality TV show of the same name, owned and operated “pill mills” that prescribed opioids “without any legitimate medical purpose.” Florence ‘knowingly, and unlawfully,’ facilitated the distribution of the powerful and highly-addictive prescription drugs into the illicit market.”

The Perdue companies’ annual sales of OxyContin are between $2.47 billion to $2.99 billion a year, or 30 percent of the entire market for analgesic (painkiller) drugs, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit demands judgment against the defendants for damages resulting from breaches of statutory and common law, according to the press release. The suit also seeks punitive damages against the defendants for their alleged roles in flooding Tennessee with illegal opioids, seeks to award restitution to the plaintiffs, and requests an injunction to stop the flood of opioids to the region.

The suit is the third such complaint filed in Tennessee in recent months. The first was filed in June 2017 in Sullivan County Circuit Court in Kingsport, and the second was filed in September 2017 in Campbell County Circuit Court in Jacksboro. Collectively, the three complaints represent 14 district attorneys general and 47 counties in Tennessee.

According to the lawsuit, the manufacturers misled doctors and the public about the need for and the addictive nature of opioids. They turned a “blind eye” to the problems caused by addiction “and collected millions of dollars in ill-gotten profits.”

The drug manufacturers’ marketing campaign created a market for street heroin for addicts who could no longer obtain prescription opioids or afford diverted opioids, the press release says. All defendants knew of the volume of prescriptions being written and took no action to stop illegal prescriptions or diversions.

Science shows opioids are inappropriate to treat chronic pain and are dangerous and highly addictive, the lawsuit claims, citing several studies.

The lawsuit also makes a connection between opioid use by pregnant mothers and a condition called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). Tennessee and border states Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi have the highest rates of NAS in the nation, in the range of 15-20 percent per 1,000 hospital births. The Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services reports 42.3 percent of the pregnant women it serves for addictions report opioids as the primary substance of abuse.

January 23, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County High School will be retiring the number of Jerry “Red” Foster at this Friday’s games against Cannon County, January 26.

Jerry Foster starred as a Tiger player in the 70’s and went on to a successful career at Bethel College and later played professionally in Chile and Spain. After his playing career, he became a teacher and high school basketball coach, where he was at the helm of the Lady Tiger basketball program for 7 years.

“Foster has continued to give back to the youth of DeKalb County through the game of basketball as he has worked with boys and girls teaching the fundamentals of the game in the after school programs,” said DCHS Principal Randy Jennings.

“We would like to invite everyone to come out, as we once again honor and celebrate the accomplishments of one of DeKalb County’s greatest players”, he added.

The ceremony will take place on Friday, January 26 at DeKalb County High School between the girls and boys games. The girls game tips off at 6:00 p.m.

January 23, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Cookeville author and DeKalb County native Larry Self will sign copies of his new children’s book “Mary, A Mermaid in Reverse” on February 8 at Justin Potter Library.

The signing will be from 2-4 p.m.

The new book is a sequel to Self’s first in the series.

The story is about a little girl named Mary who makes a wish at a magic fountain with her friends. She wants nothing more than to be a mermaid. Will her wish come true? What will she need to do to make the magic work?

“It’s a story of fantasy. I left a cliffhanger on the first book and the new one picks up from there. I believe all children need a fantasy world to visit,” said Self.

Larry was born at home in 1944 near Smithville. He attended school in DeKalb County and later was pastor at churches here as well. Self moved his family to Putnam County in 1973 to pastor a church there and in 1976, Larry, his wife Betty, and U.L. Whitson founded the Cookeville Rescue Mission. Larry became Executive Director of the mission and served in that role for 38 years and spent 41 years there as Pastor of Marsh Chapel. Larry and his family currently attend the People’s Baptist Church near Alexandria.

Larry is excited about his new book and invites all his old and new friends to join him at Justin Potter Library in Smithville on Thursday, February 8 from 2-4 p.m. where he will sign copies of his books I & II. The books are available for purchase at $6.00 per copy and the first book includes a bonus music CD containing the classic Eddie Raven song “Thank God for Kids”.

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