Chicago Reaffirms High Court Ruling Fortifies Opioid Marketing Suit

Chicago is firing back at drugmakers that dismissed the relevance of a high court ruling to the city’s False Claims Act suit against them over their promotion of opioids.

The city reaffirmed its stance in a court filing that a recent Supreme Court ruling — Universal Health Services v. Escobar — bolsters its case against the firms by holding companies accountable for complying with municipal regulations when receiving government payments.

Chicago filed suit against five companies that manufacture opioids — Purdue Pharma, Cephalon, Janssen, Endo Health Solutions and Actavis — contending in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois that they misrepresented the benefits of opioids. Separately, the city signed a four-year agreement with Pfizer for a code of conduct regarding its marketing of opioids.

This original suit was filed in June 2014.