Public Client Group Attorneys

Le groupe de pratique clientèle publique de Naples Chkolnik is uniquely positioned to represent state and local governments. Our attorneys are court appointed to numerous multidistrict and other coordinated actions to recover funding through litigation to ensure that government entities can continue to protect and provide for their citizens’ health and safety.

Notre approche

At Napoli Shkolnik, our dedicated Public Client Practice Group has the experience, resources and tenacity to achieve the best possible results. Our approach is simple. If your authority has a problem, our public client practice group looks for a solution that does not further impact taxpayers and/or rate payers.

We have an established track record of success that goes back several decades. Here are a few recent highlights.

Opioid Epidemic

The manufacturers of prescription opioids grossly misrepresented the risks of long-term use of those drugs for persons with chronic pain. The distributors failed to properly monitor suspicious orders of those prescription drugs--all of which contributed to the current opioid epidemic. The pharmacies filled those prescriptions ignoring red flags.

While these defendants made record profits, counties, cities, and municipalities were left with an addicted population to care for. Public authorities are entitled to recover these costs due to the defendants' negligence.

To date, national settlements have been reached with Janssen, Cardinal, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, Teva, Allergan, CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart. Funding from these settlements have begun to flow into our communities. The firm is still in litigation against defendants across the country.

Contentieux de l'industrie des armes à feu

Napoli Shkolnik représente les villes de Buffalo et Rochester dans deux procès distincts contre l'industrie des armes à feu.

Les poursuites sont intentées en vertu d'une loi signée en 2021, qui interdit aux participants à l'industrie des armes à feu de contribuer à une condition qui « met en danger la sécurité ou la santé du public par la vente, la fabrication, l'importation ou la commercialisation d'une arme à feu illégale ». . Les co-accusés sont Bushmaster Firearms, Vintage Firearms, Smith & Wesson Brands, Beretta USA Corp, Colt's Manufacturing Co. et Glock. Napoli Shkolnik est fière de représenter les villes de Rochester et de Buffalo dans ces procès historiques, visant à limiter l'utilisation des armes à feu dans les crimes violents et à améliorer la sécurité et la qualité de vie dans les deux villes.

Contentieux environnemental

La loi fédérale sur l'assainissement de l'eau permet à « tout citoyen », y compris les villes, les comtés et les municipalités, de demander réparation pour les dommages environnementaux devant les tribunaux. Cette réparation comprend généralement une compensation financière, des injonctions permanentes et d'autres réparations.

Chez Napoli Shkolnik, notre groupe de pratique clientèle publique se concentre principalement sur un certain nombre de problèmes de contamination de l'environnement, tel que:

• PFAS Water Contamination : De nombreuses bases de l'armée de l'air et des aéroports privés utilisaient de la mousse anti-incendie mélangée à de l'acide perfluorooctanoïque. Ce produit chimique dangereux est hautement cancérigène. De plus, une fois que ce produit chimique s'infiltre dans le sol, il y reste pendant des années, contaminant continuellement l'approvisionnement en eau.

Judge Approves Historic $12.5 Billion 3M Settlement to Clean America’s Water Supplies

Historic $1.18 Billion Settlement Approved with DuPont to Clean America’s Water Supplies

Paul Napoli & Co-Leads Secure $750 Million Settlement with Tyco Fire Products LP in AFFF MDL

Napoli Shkolnik Applauds EPA’s Historic Action on PFAS Regulation in Drinking Water

• Tour d'horizon: Un nombre croissant de preuves établit un lien entre le glyphosate, un produit chimique clé du désherbant résidentiel et commercial de Monsanto, et le cancer. En 2017, la Californie a été le premier État à émettre un avertissement officiel concernant l'utilisation et la vente de glyphosate et de Roundup.
• Empoisonnement au plomb: Flint, Michigan n'était que la pointe de l'iceberg. De nombreuses entreprises utilisaient des matériaux de plomberie de qualité inférieure dans les logements sociaux, en particulier à New York et au New Jersey. Ces résidents doivent maintenant faire face aux effets physiques et mentaux paralysants d'un empoisonnement au plomb à long terme.

Nous nous concentrons également sur les déversements d'hydrocarbures, la fracturation hydraulique et toute autre pollution environnementale qui affecte un grand nombre de contribuables dans une zone spécifique.

Litige antitrust sur les médicaments génériques

Napoli represents dozens of self-insured governmental entities and private companies in the coordinated

litigation known as In re Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to seek relief due to massive price hikes implemented by pharmaceutical companies on a multitude of generic drugs.

As a member of the Executive Committee for the Self -Funded Payer Track, Napoli is at the forefront and leading the charge for plaintiffs in coordinated civil litigation in the District Court for the District of New Jersey against the three dominant insulin manufacturers and three major pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) for violations of the RICO Act and state laws regarding deceptive acts, false and misleading misrepresentations, breach of contract and unjust enrichment. The Defendants’ deliberate actions placed substantial economic burdens on self-funded health plans, impacting both their members and beneficiaries – all the while the manufacturers amassed billions of dollars for themselves and lined their PBM co-conspirators’ pockets through kickback schemes and agreements.

It is widely known that generic drugs were originally created to make healthcare affordable for Americans, as manufacturers would use the identical active pharmaceutical ingredient molecule as brand drugs at lower costs. After Congress enacted the Hatch Waxman Act in 1984, Americans enjoyed decades of low-priced generic drugs under a modern system of regulation, which facilitated and encouraged competition between drug manufacturers. However, these manufacturers began to engage in anticompetitive practices by taking steps to prevent price erosion, avoiding competitive bidding and refraining from engaging in competition upon entering specific generic markets. Competitors collaborated to collectively raise and sustain prices for generic drugs, systematically eliminating competition by conspiring to allocate customers, manipulate bids, and fix prices for specific generic drugs. Defendants participated in an overarching conspiracy to increase prices and reduce competition across the entire spectrum of generic drugs since at least 2010. Even in markets with only one manufacturer, they maintained prices above the competitive level, anticipating cooperative entry by another manufacturer at supra-competitive prices.

What does this mean to local governments? Their group health plans usually rely on less-expensive generic drugs to reduce costs. When these drug prices are artificially high, the counties, cities, and municipalities that sponsor these plans pay the price. If your public employee health plan costs increased due to overpriced generic drugs, it is highly advisable to exercise your legal rights.

Insulin Pricing Litigation

Diabetes continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States, and insulin is a

medication used by millions to regulate blood sugar levels and manage this terrible disease. Since 2003, countless government entities have purchased insulin and other diabetic medication from the manufacturers through PBMs, unwittingly paying exorbitantly high prices due to the insulin pricing scheme. The Defendants caused higher costs for payors and plan members over the last two decades, raising prices despite decreased manufacturing expenses, and insulin's longstanding history and stable formulation.

Social Media Addiction

Napoli represents multiple school boards in coordinated litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against major social media corporations that own, operate, control, produce, design, maintain, manage, develop, test, label, market, advertise, promote, supply, and distribute the widely popular social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube. School boards, government entities and other plaintiffs assert that these platforms are defective, designed to maximize screen time and encourage addictive behavior in adolescents, leading to various emotional and physical harms. School boards and governmental entities are actively pursuing negligence claims, seeking damages for the public nuisance created by the social media companies across the country.

Beyond the personal toll on children, the impact of social media has incurred significant costs for school districts. From hiring additional personnel to address mental health issues, developing resources, and training staff to identify and address problems, schools are bearing the burden of the social media-induced crisis. Costs also include property damage, increased disciplinary services, and the diversion of time and resources from educational activities. The detrimental effects of social media on academic performance over the past decade necessitate a comprehensive evaluation by School Board Financial Committees, Departments, and/or Advisors for potential economic losses. The litigation emphasizes the prioritization of financial growth over the well-being of schoolchildren and young adults in the United States.

In the age of widespread social media usage, nearly all U.S. teenagers aged 13-17, actively participate on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. These platforms, possessing algorithms specifically optimized for user engagement, easily disseminate extreme content and pose potential risks for minors. Crafted with a deliberate aim to attract young users, these platforms take advantage of the psychological vulnerabilities of children and adolescents. This exploitation plays a role in an unprecedented mental health crisis characterized by issues like sleep disturbances, depression, and self-harming behavior. Consequently, these platforms are currently under legal scrutiny due to allegations of consciously designing addictive and harmful products. As these social media platforms accumulated billions of users worldwide, companies harvested extensive personal data, enabling the practice of micro-targeted advertising. This exploitation of user information has fueled a consistent rise in mental health crises among U.S. children since 2010, resulting in severe consequences, including suicide becoming the second leading cause of death for youth by 2018.

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Chez Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, notre groupe de pratique client public vous aide à protéger votre personnel. Appelez-nous aujourd'hui pour un CONSULTATION GRATUITE. Nous traitons ces questions sur une base nationale.