Dallas lawyer Jeffrey Simon recently filed a first of its kind lawsuit in a Texas federal court against several of the nation’s largest drug manufacturers. His client alleges they are complicit in North America’s addiction to prescription pain killers.
Simon, a partner in Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett represents an East Texas county that is bringing public nuisance, fraud and racketeering allegations against several major drug makers including Purdue Pharma and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. He spoke with Texas Lawyer about how he found a client willing to take on the drug manufacturing industry, why he filed the case in the Eastern District of Texas and how he expects to prove up damages in what could be an extremely challenging case.
Texas Lawyer: This is the first lawsuit of its kind filed in a federal court in Texas. Normally the Texas attorney general’s office has represented counties and the state in litigation against big manufacturers. How did Upshur County become the firm’s client?
Jeffrey Simon: It’s not clear whether or not the State of Texas will file an action related to the pharmaceutical industry’s role in creating an opioid epidemic. Several states around the country have filed lawsuits making that allegation and it has been reported that the State of Texas has joined a working group to investigate the opioid pharmaceutical industry’s conduct. However, much of the financial damage done by the opioid epidemic as a result of the human misery that the opioid epidemic causes has been borne at the county level. Upshur County is one of those counties and it wanted to pursue rightful claims at the behest of its taxpayers, which have been bearing a financial burden from the opioid epidemic.
