Opioid Lawsuit Lawyers | How Can Victims and Families Seek Justice?

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Matt Dolman:

Welcome to The Dolman Law Group Podcast. I'm Matt Dolman. I'm here with the esteemed trial lawyer, Jim Magazine, board certified civil trial lawyer.

Jim Magazine:

How are you?

Matt Dolman:

Good to see you. It's been a long time.

Jim Magazine:

Good to see you.

Matt Dolman:

I know you're involved in a project. It's on a national level. You're litigating opiate cases. Tell us a little about that.

Jim Magazine:

tigation Team probably around: 2016

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... and as I was traveling around the country getting cities and counties to sign up with us, I noticed just what an incredible problem this was. I looked at it and I thought, "These are some of the greatest medical malpractice cases I've ever seen." Then, what I did was I looked for some partners in some different states and found a great partner in Illinois and we've kind of branched this firm nationwide-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... just doing opiate overdose cases.

Matt Dolman:

Take me through that.

Jim Magazine:

Okay.

Matt Dolman:

What are you looking for? What are the elements of an opiate overdose case? I mean, just simple... Somebody's prescribed opiates and they overdose on... It's not obviously that.

Jim Magazine:

What we look for, Matt, is this. The first thing we'll look for is the reason for the opiates, and then whether the reason is justifiable-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... because I'll give you a good example. We're litigating a case up in Chicago right now where nice lady, 41 years old, had low back surgery-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... but she was a pulmonary patient. She had a lot of pulmonary issues, COPD, and she had asthma. All over her medical records and she had some anxiety that went along with that, and so her pulmonologist was prescribing her what are called benzodiazepines.

Matt Dolman:

Sure.

Jim Magazine:

Okay, those benzodiazepines relax you. I'm mean, like Valium, Soma, and-

Matt Dolman:

Xanax.

Jim Magazine:

... exactly-

Matt Dolman:

Yeah.

Jim Magazine:

... but what happens is if you look at that, those also do another thing. They inhibit your breathing-

Matt Dolman:

Yeah.

Jim Magazine:

... okay? She gets referred to a pain management doctor.

Matt Dolman:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jim Magazine:

The pain management doctor reviews all of the medical records that she has, reviews all of the medicine she's on. He's totally aware of her COPD and her asthma and he prescribes her morphine, Oxys, and a Fentanyl patch. Three of the most powerful drugs we have and all three of those also slow your breathing.

Matt Dolman:

Sure.

Jim Magazine:

What happens is she takes the medicine as prescribed and her Dad or her husband comes into our office crying and he says, "All she did was take the medicine like the doctor prescribed her and she stopped breathing at night." Those are the cases that we have, and so we look all over the country for the abuse of this because if you look at some of this stuff like Fentanyl-

Matt Dolman:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jim Magazine:

... okay-

Matt Dolman:

Which has been in the news a lot.

Jim Magazine:

... which has been... but that's the core Fentanyl coming from... that's the stuff coming from China, but we're talking the Fentanyl that's prescribed to you.

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

What is the reason that we're prescribing Fentanyl to a pain patient? That's the stuff that we're giving right now. That's taking the place of morphine on the battlefield. Okay, so if I have somebody that has a non-surgical herniated disc, why in the world is this doctor prescribing them a Fentanyl patch? What's the justification? There really isn't. Then, what happens is is that person becomes an addict-

Matt Dolman:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jim Magazine:

... and sooner or later the body just gives in and they pass away.

Matt Dolman:

Why are doctors doing it?

Jim Magazine:

Money, money.

Matt Dolman:

Yeah.

Jim Magazine:

It's all about money.

Matt Dolman:

I knew the answer, I just wanted-

Jim Magazine:

Yeah.

Matt Dolman:

... you to spell it out for us.

Jim Magazine:

It's all about money, Matt.

Matt Dolman:

Are you looking for overprescriptions or prescriptions that don't meet the actual clinical presentation? Or-

Jim Magazine:

Yeah. I mean, what we look for is, and in Illinois it's really unique because they have what's called The Prescription Database.

Matt Dolman:

Just for those who are listening, Jim Magazines a Florida lawyer.

Jim Magazine:

I am a Florida lawyer.

Matt Dolman:

Board certified by the Florida Bar and The National Board of Trial Advocates, but he also has a firm in Illinois.

Jim Magazine:

We do have [crosstalk: 00:05:02

Matt Dolman:

Make sure that we're clear on that.

Jim Magazine:

... we do have, yes-

Matt Dolman:

Yes.

Jim Magazine:

... exactly right.

Matt Dolman:

Go on.

Jim Magazine:

We have what's called The Illinois Prescription Database-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... which is unique because in Florida, our legislature blocked lawyers from being able to get that. Okay, so the database shows me every single prescription that my client would have filled and the doctor that prescribed that medicine. Then, we're able to go to the toxicology report and look in there and match what's there-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... and if it matches, we start the process-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... okay? We have experts all over the country in addictionology, pain management. We have a pharmacy expert, and so we put these experts together and we get all the medical records and if we get an opinion that this is a case that this person shouldn't have died, which they all shouldn't have died-

Matt Dolman:

Sure.

Jim Magazine:

... then we proceed.

Matt Dolman:

What about in the states where you don't have that access to that information?

Jim Magazine:

It becomes difficult then because hopefully we have a family member that can tell us where they're getting them and we have to do that in litigation, then-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... because we can't get those records outside of litigation, but we're very fortunate in Ohio. We're able to get them. We're just starting with you in Massachusetts-

Matt Dolman:

Yep.

Jim Magazine:

... so we're trying to branch this out because this is an epidemic. It's not getting any better.

Matt Dolman:

You're [crosstalk: 00:06:23

Jim Magazine:

The same usual [crosstalk: 00:06:26

Matt Dolman:

... the same pain mills?

Jim Magazine:

... yeah, we have one doctor up in Illinois right now that I think we have four cases for and they all overdosed and-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... and he's the one that he changes the cause of death on the death certificate every single time, so-

Matt Dolman:

To what?

Jim Magazine:

d something that's [crosstalk: 00:06:49

Matt Dolman:

It's disgusting.

Jim Magazine:

... opiates. It's disgusting.

Matt Dolman:

You're seeing the same repeat offenders, though?

Jim Magazine:

We [crosstalk: 00:06:53

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

They did radiation and chemotherapy.

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

In the cancer world, if the person shows no signs of cancer after five years, they're deemed cancer-free-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

e every six months [crosstalk: 00:07:24

Matt Dolman:

Full remission.

Jim Magazine:

... just to assure you're in remission.

Matt Dolman:

Sure.

Jim Magazine:

Okay-

Matt Dolman:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jim Magazine:

... and the cancer doctor really doesn't become the pain management doctor, so this gentleman, this doctor went totally outside his scope because the gentleman had what's called fibrotic pain, which is consistent with radiation. He was prescribing him 2,000 Oxys a month.

Matt Dolman:

This being the oncologist?

Jim Magazine:

This being the oncologist.

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

There were intervals in this gentleman's history where he would have an overdose. He would be in a hospital. They would send him to pain management. The pain management doctor would call the oncologist, tell him, "When he comes back, this is what you need to prescribe and get him back in to see me," and he would just disregard those orders. Now, the interesting part about it is that the pain or the oncology center is owned by an umbrella that owns the pharmacy-

Matt Dolman:

Oh, gosh.

Jim Magazine:

... and so this was the only pharmacy that would fill those prescriptions.

Matt Dolman:

There you got the-

Jim Magazine:

Right-

Matt Dolman:

... the motivation [crosstalk: 00:08:24

Jim Magazine:

... and it goes right back to money.

Matt Dolman:

When we look at these cases, you're looking at... What are the following elements for those out there that are considering, you know, that-

Jim Magazine:

So-

Matt Dolman:

... there is a death of a family member, colleague, friend, or an overdose injury has resulted in obviously an ongoing medical issues? What are you looking at? What elements fit the case?

Jim Magazine:

A few things, so the first thing is let's talk about the clean case. The clean case is you're dying of the prescriptions that were prescribed to you.

Matt Dolman:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jim Magazine:

Okay, if we have that, it's easy to go back, look in the medical records and to find out why you were prescribed, whether you were overprescribed, and whether or not there's signs of addiction and, what is the doctor doing-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... to either try to taper you off these medicines or help you with this addiction? We also look at cases where a doctor will wrongfully... won't wean you off. Will just cut you off, and so if you have a person who's on Oxycontin, Oxycodone-

Matt Dolman:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jim Magazine:

... or they're taking morphine and you cut them off, these people are on synthetic heroin, and all of a sudden-

Matt Dolman:

That's why it's known as Hillbilly Heroin.

Jim Magazine:

... right. What happens is they're going to go to the street. We look at cases where if we have a client who was cut off in June, just straight cut cold turkey, and then he goes to the street, takes heroin and he dies, we take that case all day long because that is a foreseeable outcome because you really have a duty to start tapering them off. You can't just cut that person off and expect that they're not going to have these withdrawals.

Matt Dolman:

Turn to the streets.

Jim Magazine:

Right, and they turn to the streets.

Matt Dolman:

tatus now? How bad [crosstalk: 00:10:15

Jim Magazine:

Matt, you would think with the national opiate litigation and the coverage that it has gotten that this would be tapering down. Actually, my practice is growing.

Matt Dolman:

The doctors [crosstalk: 00:10:30

Jim Magazine:

The doctors have not curbed it at all.

Matt Dolman:

... because money's the greatest motivator.

Jim Magazine:

Money's the greatest motivator.

Matt Dolman:

espread throughout [crosstalk: 00:10:37

Jim Magazine:

Throughout the country.

Matt Dolman:

You're taking these cases in all 50 states?

Jim Magazine:

Well, not right now, so we're taking them right now in Illinois, Ohio, in Massachusetts, and West Virginia.

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

Okay, so obviously if there's a case in another state like that, would definitely look at it and if we can find the appropriate co-counsel to help us, we'll absolutely go all-in.

Matt Dolman:

Okay, so it's a national practice-

Jim Magazine:

It's a national practice.

Matt Dolman:

... focused on those four or five states you're-

Jim Magazine:

Right.

Matt Dolman:

... in right now.

Jim Magazine:

Right.

Matt Dolman:

What's the status of this litigation right now? Are these one-off cases like every case is an individual case?

Jim Magazine:

Absolutely.

Matt Dolman:

Is it going towards multi-district litigation?

Jim Magazine:

ses. That's what's [crosstalk: 00:11:12

Matt Dolman:

It started this [crosstalk: 00:11:32

Jim Magazine:

... and it started this-

Matt Dolman:

... yeah.

Jim Magazine:

... cycle, this vicious cycle that they couldn't get out of and they don't even understand. We represented a gentleman who was a president of a bank-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... right? And-

Matt Dolman:

I would assume this affects all types of demographics.

Jim Magazine:

... all types of demographics-

Matt Dolman:

Sure.

Jim Magazine:

... and basically had a non-surgical herniated disc and the doctors got him so hooked on Oxy that he ended up losing his job-

Matt Dolman:

Why would you prescribe-

Jim Magazine:

... right-

Matt Dolman:

... Oxy-

Jim Magazine:

... for non-surgical herniated disc.

Matt Dolman:

Doesn't make any sense.

Jim Magazine:

It doesn't make any sense at all, but that's the whole issue. That's where this lies. The money's the motivator because you have to come back every month to get the refill-

Matt Dolman:

Sure.

Jim Magazine:

... and you got to get that-

Matt Dolman:

If you don't get it, you're going to the streets.

Jim Magazine:

... right, and then you come back, repeat, money, money, money.

Matt Dolman:

Most of your clients are family members who are seeking you out-

Jim Magazine:

Yes.

Matt Dolman:

... after the death of a loved one?

Jim Magazine:

Absolutely. That's exactly it.

Matt Dolman:

Or, if there's ongoing issues, what kind of issues would the individual have if they survive the addiction but have... What type of medical issues are we looking at?

Jim Magazine:

You know what? We really haven't gone down that road yet. I mean, every single case we have is a death case.

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

Just-

Matt Dolman:

Makes sense.

Jim Magazine:

... and I think that those cases are common because I think that this addiction has destroyed lives-

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

... and there are a lot of people out there that are still living that have lost everything, and so it really just becomes a little niche where you got to figure out how to take that case to the next level, but I think those are cases, too. We just haven't gone there yet because there's just not enough of us doing it.

Matt Dolman:

How are they defending these cases?

Jim Magazine:

They... You know what the interesting part is that-

Matt Dolman:

ending these cases [crosstalk: 00:13:13

Jim Magazine:

... the interesting part is that until recently they really didn't understand it, and so now they're understanding them. We're settling a lot of them.

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

We haven't tried one yet-

Matt Dolman:

Got it.

Jim Magazine:

... but we've had some really nice results-

Matt Dolman:

You mentioned [crosstalk: 00:13:27

Jim Magazine:

Yeah, yeah.

Matt Dolman:

Okay, and those are possibly going in the next year-

Jim Magazine:

Yeah, could be.

Matt Dolman:

... but who knows.

Jim Magazine:

Who knows, but you know what? That's what puts the hammer to them, you know? If they're going to settle-

Matt Dolman:

Of course, if you're not willing to try cases, as you know in your profession-

Jim Magazine:

Right.

Matt Dolman:

... there's no bite to the bark. You can bark all day long. No one really give-

Jim Magazine:

Exactly.

Matt Dolman:

... no one cares.

Jim Magazine:

Exactly [crosstalk: 00:13:47

Matt Dolman:

I'll keep my language clean for this. It was about to get a little bit off cuff there. Tell me, is there anything more you'd like to tell the audience about these cases? How do get ahold of you?

Jim Magazine:

Well, we have a national number. It's 833-OD-DRUGS.

Matt Dolman:

That's a good number.

Jim Magazine:

Okay.

Matt Dolman:

Gotcha.

Jim Magazine:

Yeah, so that's anywhere in the country. It comes right to our call center.

Matt Dolman:

Okay.

Jim Magazine:

street and passed [crosstalk: 00:14:28

Matt Dolman:

There is no outcome, right? When somebody gets cut off, they're going right to the streets, correct?

Jim Magazine:

ean, it's a heroin [crosstalk: 00:14:41

Matt Dolman:

It's a full-blown addiction.

Jim Magazine:

... yeah, a full-blown addiction. Right.

Matt Dolman:

Gotcha, gotcha.

Jim Magazine:

No good outcome.

Matt Dolman:

This is scary. All right, so that's Jim Magazine of Lucas Magazine, and it's called Larson Magazine in Illinois?

Jim Magazine:

Yeah, it's Larson Magazine in Illinois, and that's the national opiate firm.

Matt Dolman:

One more time the number?

Jim Magazine:

833-OD-DRUGS.

Matt Dolman:

How do I find you on the internet?

Jim Magazine:

Larson Magazine.

Matt Dolman:

That's all... That's easy as I said. All right, great. It was a pleasure seeing you as usual.

Jim Magazine:

Thank you for having me.

Matt Dolman:

Great trial lawyer, Jim. You want to tell them a little about your practice before we get off?

Jim Magazine:

Well, our practice here in Florida is a personal injury practice, just like yours, Matt-

Matt Dolman:

Yep.

Jim Magazine:

... so [crosstalk: 00:15:15

Matt Dolman:

15 years now.

Jim Magazine:

... right. Car crashes, catastrophic injuries.

Matt Dolman:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jim Magazine:

home practice here [crosstalk: 00:15:23

Matt Dolman:

That's going to die down, correct?

Jim Magazine:

rance, it makes it [crosstalk: 00:15:28

Matt Dolman:

Gotcha.

Jim Magazine:

You know, and as you well know, litigating med-mal cases are expensive-

Matt Dolman:

Right-

Jim Magazine:

... and it's hard [crosstalk: 00:15:43

Matt Dolman:

... incredibly expensive.

Jim Magazine:

... you know [crosstalk: 00:15:44

Matt Dolman:

Excellent. How do we get ahold of you here in the State of Florida?

Jim Magazine:

-: 9900

Matt Dolman:

Excellent. That's Lucas Magazine. Fantastic firm. There's enough work out there for all of us, so that's why I don't view you as a competitor, and Jim's a fantastic trial lawyer and a good friend. Well, that wraps up another episode of The Dolman Law Group Podcast. Thanks again. I really appreciate you-

Jim Magazine:

Thanks for having me.

Matt Dolman:

... Jim for being on here. Take care, now.

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