Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, may be entitled to recover damages from prescription opioid producers and marketers in Lancaster County, PA opioid litigation. Lancaster County has suffered devastating effects from the opioid crisis. According to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) data, Lancaster County (total population 519,445) experienced a 45% increase in overdose deaths from 2015 to 2016. Most of these overdoses involved the opioid heroin. The next highest drug involvement was of the opioid fentanyl. See DEA Analysis of Overdose Deaths in Pennsylvania, 2016, (U) Appendix Figure 40.
Lancaster County reported 127 opioid-related hospitalizations in 2016. The Lancaster County Coroner reports that 80 opioid drug overdoses occurred in the County in the first six months of 2017. This was a sharp increase over such deaths in 2015 and close to the total such deaths in all of 2016. Involvement of opioids fentanyl, heroin, and other pain medications had also risen.
Lancaster County reported 274 overdose deaths between 2016 and 2018. Opioids fentanyl and heroin were involved in the majority of these deaths.
Cause and Recovery of Lancaster County
Opioid-Related Costs
The current nationwide opioid epidemic resulted from aggressive and illicit marketing schemes of prescription opioid producers. Widespread opioid addiction and abuse has reached across the nation and includes Lancaster County. This has cost the County significant losses, which the County may be entitled to recover in litigation against opioid prescription producers and marketers.
An MDL (Multidistrict Litigation) was formed on December 5, 2017, to increase the efficiency of pre-trial and discovery phases of federal opioid litigation. Federal opioid cases instituted by governmental entities such as Lancaster County will be filed in the MDL court in the Northern District of Ohio for this part of the litigation.
[See Pennsylvania Opioid Government Litigation Lawyers for additional details about the economic burdens of the opioid epidemic, causes of action, and recoverable damages.]
Lancaster, PA Opioid Information & Resources
- Lancaster County Overdose Deaths
- Lancaster County Anti-Heroin Task Force (Facebook)
- Lancaster County Anti-Heroin Task Force (LinkedIn)
Pennsylvania Opioid Information & Resources
- Drug Presence in Pennsylvania, 1999-2016
- Cocaine / Fentanyl Combination in Pennsylvania
- Overdose Free PA
- DEA: Pennsylvania Drug Overdose Deaths Jump 37% in 2016
- Commonwealth Prevention Alliance Stop Opiate Abuse Campaign
- Pennsylvania: Treating and Preventing Opioid Addiction
- Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs: Opioid / Heroin Reversal (Naloxone)
- DEA Analysis of Overdose Deaths in Pennsylvania, 2016
Other Opioid Information
- CDC Foundation’s New Business Pulse Focuses on Opioid Overdose Epidemic
- Federal Opioid Litigation Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse: Opioids
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Opioid Medications
Inquire About Lancaster County, PA Opioid Litigation
Feldman & Pinto, P.C., is a Philadelphia based personal injury firm concentrating their practice in pharmaceutical litigation and medical malpractice. We are part of a team of lawyers engaged in a fight to compensate local governmental entities for costs incurred as a result of the opioid epidemic.
Please contact us to inquire about the possibility of commencing Lancaster County, PA opioid litigation.