Lawyer Monthly - November 2021 Edition

Marie Napoli has been an attorney for over twenty-five years. She has experience handling personal injury, medical malpractice litigation, pharmaceutical litigation, employment discrimination, civil rights, and mass tort matters. Marie earned her JD from St John’s University Law School and her LLM degree from New York University (NYU) School of Law. She has worked for the New York Appellate Division, 2nd Department and has taught CLE courses on Tort and Civil Procedure at St John’s University School of Law. As a founding partner of Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, Marie is involved in many depositions and has tried multiple cases to verdict. She is also bringing her considerable skillset and experience to a collaboration with Ben Crump on numerous social injustice litigations. Napoli Shkolnik is a national law firm based in New York City. Their personal injury attorneys represent victims across the country in litigation, mediation and arbitration across a range of practice areas, including medical malpractice, environmental litigation and civil rights. With additional offices in Long Island, New Jersey, California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois and Texas, Napoli Shkolnik’s team boasts 30+ years of experience and more than $3 billion secured for their clients through verdicts and settlements. companies and 300 different generic drugs. Sandoz also agreed to pay a $195 million penalty and admitted to antitrust crimes. In the similar vein of price gouging, Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals and the man behind the infamous 5,000% price increase of the life-saving drug Daraprim, will soon go on trial for his alleged anticompetitive efforts to suppress generic competition. This past December, Napoli Shkolnik PLLC began representing Schuyler County Attorney Steven Getman in suing drug manufacturers for price fixing. In 2019, we began working with New York counties on a price fixing lawsuit likely to be heard in federal court in eastern Pennsylvania. That same year, we entered into an agreement with Schenectady County Attorney Chris Gardner to work on a price fixing lawsuit. These cases, along with the many others referenced above, are proceeding in the MDL currently pending in federal court in Philadelphia. Know your options If your public employee health plan costs increased due to overpriced generic drugs, now is a good time to exercise your legal rights. You may consider multidistrict litigation (MDL). MDLs expedite the judicial process, so cases often settle quickly and on plaintiff- friendly terms. In June of this year, Teva Pharmaceuticals has agreed to settle with the state of Mississippi for $925,000 in a price fixing lawsuit. Though a modest sum, this shows that MDL has the potential to succeed. Additionally, a multidistrict litigation forum was recently established in Pennsylvania to handle the growing number of claims. Class action lawsuits are also EXPERT INSIGHT 45 NOV 2021 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM an option: this year, drug manufacturer Actavis signed a $1.1 million class action settlement with parents and caregivers of children suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), after it was alleged the company delayed releasing its generic ADHD medication in an anticompetitive deal with Shire, the maker of the brand-name version. It is important to note that individual class action settlement winnings can be sparse depending on class size. Additionally, new laws are being proposed to eliminate price- fixing and allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. You can write to your representatives to voice your concern and urge them to take action. My Final Thoughts Every consumer has the right to drugs they can afford. Local governments should not incur damages that shatter their economy, nor should drug prices force a person to forego their lifesaving and life-improving medication. Drug companies are exceedingly powerful – but with the growing number of lawsuits rising against them today, it is possible that meaningful change will occur soon. Local governments should not incur damages that shatter their economy, nor should drug prices force a person to forego their lifesaving and life- improving medication Marie Napoli, Founding Partner Napoli Shkolnik PLLC 360 Lexington Avenue, 11th floor, New York, NY 10017 Tel: +1 212 397 1000 www.napolilaw.com