The Sarasota City Commission unanimously voted to retain Bill Robertson, CEO and personal injury attorney with Kirk Pinkerton, PA, and Steven W. Teppler with the Abbott Law Group to represent the City of Sarasota in a lawsuit to recover damages related to the opioid epidemic. The attorney team will file a lawsuit in federal court with the Middle District in Tampa, FL. against as many as seven or more major pharmaceutical manufacturing companies and their distributors. The duo is taking the case on contingency, meaning the city will not incur any expenses unless recovered during the lawsuit. Lawsuits like these are not uncommon across the country—between 2003-07, approximately 1,400 individual lawsuits were filed in the U.S. with another 3,600 prepped for litigation. During discovery in the previous litigation, it was revealed that manufacturers cited biased medical studies to support claims that opioid addiction was rare. These companies allegedly hired pain management experts and doctors to promote use of opioids and provided kickbacks and other incentives to promote use. Manufacturers also purportedly created and funded a medical-front group to publish and promote false research and information about the drugs and published articles stating that opioid use was non-addicting. Currently more than 70 states, cities and counties have filed lawsuits related to these claims. In 2016, Robertson and Teppler represented the City of Sarasota and pursued the oil spill claim against BP, recovering $3 million for the city.

Kirk Pinkerton