County weighs suing opioid makers
HOWARD DIGEST
Howard County officials are taking the first steps toward filing a lawsuit against drug companies that manufacture powerful painkillers that have been linked to tens of thousands of overdose deaths nationwide.
County officials said this past week that the county’s Office of Law will start interviewing law firms as part of a plan to seek monetary damages related to the “tremendous amount of resources that local jurisdictions have had to devote to the [opioid] crisis,” county spokeswoman Deidre McCabe said.
Decisions on which manufacturing companies the county will sue, as well as the amount of money the county is seeking, won’t be made until a firm has been selected, said McCabe. The firm will also determine the court in which to pursue the county’s case.
If Howard County decides to take legal action, it would join Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Harford and Montgomery counties and Baltimore City in suing drug makers.
The county continues its battle against opioid overdoses, with18 fatal and non-fatal overdoses in the county last month, compared to 10 in January 2017, according to police. In 2017, there were 228 fatal and non-fatal overdoses.
A representative for the national Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said the trade association does not comment on matters related to individual lawsuits, but the association is “deeply committed” to combating the national opioid crisis.
Kathleen Hoke, a law professor at the University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law and director of the Legal Resource Center for Public Health Policy, said that as more jurisdictions sue manufacturers, common claims fall under consumer-protection law, including fraudulent misrepresentation from manufacturers to consumers.
“The theme being in some instances directly manipulating providers and patients into believing the drug would do things that it wouldn’t do, and more importantly not disclosing the potential and significant negative consequences of starting to use the drugs at all,” she said.
“Preliminarily there is certainly sufficient evidence to bring these claims. The industry will fight this very hard.”
MakingChange hosts tax preparation services MakingChange, a nonprofit in Howard County which works with individuals and families to help with financial stability, is hosting free tax preparation services at The MultiService Center in North Laurel and The NonProfit Collaborative in Columbia.
The two locations are serving as Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites offering free tax return preparation and filing to most taxpayers who earned up to $54,000 in 2017.
The taxpayer’s eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit will also be determined.
This year’s tax deadline is April 17, 2018.
The MultiService Center is located at 9900 Washington Boulevard (U.S. 1) in Laurel. Free tax preparation services are available 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays; 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Fridays; and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, through April 14. Appointments can be scheduled by calling 410-313- 0241.
The NonProfit Collaborative is located at 9770 Patuxent Woods Drive in Columbia.
Free tax preparation services are available 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through April 11.
For an appointment, call 443-518-7649.
—Staff reports Pay raises for council, executive approved The Howard County Council approved raising the pay for future council members and the county executive this week, but pared a commission’s recommendation for the higher salaries.
Beginning in December, council members will make $66,174 a year, a 10 percent increase over their last raise in 2014. A commission studying compensation had recommended raising the salaries to $80,000 a year.
The county executive will make $195,800 a year; the commission had proposed $226,000. The current salary is about $184,000 annually.
Four members of the council are leaving office in December.
Councilman Jon Weinstein, a Democrat, is seeking re-election as is incumbent County Executive Allan H. Kittleman, a Republican. Councilman Calvin Ball is in the Democratic primary race for county executive.
— Kate Magill, Baltimore Sun Media Group
County officials said this past week that the county’s Office of Law will start interviewing law firms as part of a plan to seek monetary damages related to the “tremendous amount of resources that local jurisdictions have had to devote to the [opioid] crisis,” county spokeswoman Deidre McCabe said.
Decisions on which manufacturing companies the county will sue, as well as the amount of money the county is seeking, won’t be made until a firm has been selected, said McCabe. The firm will also determine the court in which to pursue the county’s case.
If Howard County decides to take legal action, it would join Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Harford and Montgomery counties and Baltimore City in suing drug makers.
The county continues its battle against opioid overdoses, with18 fatal and non-fatal overdoses in the county last month, compared to 10 in January 2017, according to police. In 2017, there were 228 fatal and non-fatal overdoses.
A representative for the national Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said the trade association does not comment on matters related to individual lawsuits, but the association is “deeply committed” to combating the national opioid crisis.
Kathleen Hoke, a law professor at the University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law and director of the Legal Resource Center for Public Health Policy, said that as more jurisdictions sue manufacturers, common claims fall under consumer-protection law, including fraudulent misrepresentation from manufacturers to consumers.
“The theme being in some instances directly manipulating providers and patients into believing the drug would do things that it wouldn’t do, and more importantly not disclosing the potential and significant negative consequences of starting to use the drugs at all,” she said.
“Preliminarily there is certainly sufficient evidence to bring these claims. The industry will fight this very hard.”
MakingChange hosts tax preparation services MakingChange, a nonprofit in Howard County which works with individuals and families to help with financial stability, is hosting free tax preparation services at The MultiService Center in North Laurel and The NonProfit Collaborative in Columbia.
The two locations are serving as Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites offering free tax return preparation and filing to most taxpayers who earned up to $54,000 in 2017.
The taxpayer’s eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit will also be determined.
This year’s tax deadline is April 17, 2018.
The MultiService Center is located at 9900 Washington Boulevard (U.S. 1) in Laurel. Free tax preparation services are available 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays; 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Fridays; and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, through April 14. Appointments can be scheduled by calling 410-313- 0241.
The NonProfit Collaborative is located at 9770 Patuxent Woods Drive in Columbia.
Free tax preparation services are available 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through April 11.
For an appointment, call 443-518-7649.
—Staff reports Pay raises for council, executive approved The Howard County Council approved raising the pay for future council members and the county executive this week, but pared a commission’s recommendation for the higher salaries.
Beginning in December, council members will make $66,174 a year, a 10 percent increase over their last raise in 2014. A commission studying compensation had recommended raising the salaries to $80,000 a year.
The county executive will make $195,800 a year; the commission had proposed $226,000. The current salary is about $184,000 annually.
Four members of the council are leaving office in December.
Councilman Jon Weinstein, a Democrat, is seeking re-election as is incumbent County Executive Allan H. Kittleman, a Republican. Councilman Calvin Ball is in the Democratic primary race for county executive.
— Kate Magill, Baltimore Sun Media Group
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