Class Action Says Pharma Consulting Firm ZS Associates Played ‘Crucial Role’ in Fueling Nationwide Opioid Crisis

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A proposed class action lawsuit seeks to hold pharmaceutical consulting firm ZS Associates, Inc. accountable for its alleged role in fueling the nationwide opioid crisis.

The 65-page case alleges that although major pharma companies such as Purdue Pharma, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Endo International, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals already face litigation over their involvement in the opioid crisis, ZS Associates is “one of the little known, but principal architects” of the epidemic and has worked side-by-side with its pharma manufacturer clients to “sell knowingly addictive opioid drugs to as many individuals as possible.”

Per the suit, ZS Associates worked behind the scenes to design and implement “crucial aspects” of the pharma companies’ marketing and sales tactics with the objective of maximizing its clients’ profits. Even more egregiously, ZS Associates, as a result of its intimate relationship with pharma manufacturers, was aware that its work was indirectly killing Americans yet refused to cease “tearing apart our social fabric for profit,” the lawsuit claims.

“Simply put, ZS played a central role in the creation, prolongation, and exploitation of the opioid crisis for money,” the complaint alleges. “Even after alarm bells sounded repeatedly and often in the early years of the unfolding crisis, ZS continued its work unabated and with alacrity. It continued its sales and marketing work for its clients right up until the bitter end, as their clients chose to cease marketing branded opioid products altogether.”

The lawsuit, filed by Mingo County and the town of Kermit, West Virginia, looks to “hold all those responsible accountable, including ZS.”

Pharmaceutical companies often rely on third parties such as ZS to assist with “mission-critical tasks” in the highly regulated, and highly lucrative, pharmaceutical industry, the case begins. Per the suit, ZS, with its workforce of thousands of consultants, specializes in optimizing pharmaceutical sales and has worked with many of the major players in the industry, including the makers of highly addictive opioid products. According to the case, ZS took a hands-on approach to its work with manufacturers and was “intimately involved” in designing and implementing strategies to boost opioid sales and maximize profits.

The lawsuit alleges that ZS worked side-by-side with its clients to develop and implement the questionable tactics used to sell opioids over the past two decades and, as a result, had access to vast amounts of the companies’ data. For that reason, ZS was well equipped to identify the red flags pointing to widespread opioid abuse, according to the complaint:

ZS nevertheless continued to advise and work with clients to maximize sales of drugs known to be “deadly and addictive” in the midst of a crisis that stemmed from the manufacturers’ over-selling of opioids, the lawsuit claims. The complaint goes on to detail ZS’s alleged involvement with the likes of Purdue, Mallinckrodt, Endo, Teva and Janssen, who have each been named as defendants in the sprawling litigation filed over the opioid crisis. 

According to the suit, ZS is a “critical part of the economic ecosystem that sells drugs in the United States” and thus bears some responsibility for thousands of deaths across the nation:

The lawsuit looks to represent all West Virginia counties and municipal corporations from 2004 to the present.

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