Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, may be entitled to recover compensation from prescription opioid manufacturers and marketers in Schuylkill County, PA opioid litigation. Schuylkill County has sustained significant losses as a result of the opioid epidemic. According to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) data, Schuylkill County (total population 148,289) experienced a 136% increase in overdose deaths from 2015 to 2016. Most of these overdoses involved opioids heroin and fentanyl. See DEA Analysis of Overdose Deaths in Pennsylvania, 2016, (U) Appendix Figure 58.
The Schuylkill County Coroner reported 77 drug-related County deaths in 2016. A large majority of these deaths involved opioids fentanyl and heroin. According to the Schuylkill County Drug Task Force, 55 of the 1,073 County criminal complaints filed since January 2014 involved dealing and / or possession of the opioid heroin.
Cause and Recovery of Schuylkill County
Opioid-Related Costs
The nationwide opioid epidemic—and its extension to Schuylkill County—was caused by the illegal and overly aggressive marketing of prescription opioid medications. Rampant opioid addiction and abuse and costs related thereto have injured Schuylkill County and other governmental entities throughout the country. Prescription opioid manufacturers and marketers may be liable to Schuylkill County for excess County costs and losses resulting from the opioid crisis.
An MDL (Multidistrict Litigation) was formed on December 5, 2017, to increase efficiency of the pre-trial and discovery phases of federal opioid litigation. Federal opioid cases instituted by governmental entities such as Schuylkill County will be filed in the MDL court in the Northern District of Ohio for this phase 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.]
Schuylkill County, PA Opioid Info. & Resources
- Schuylkill County Drug Task Force
- NEWS: 77 Drug-Related Schuylkill County Deaths in 2016
- NEWS: Schuylkill County Community Discusses Drug Epidemic
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 Schuylkill 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 Schuylkill County, PA opioid litigation.