The lawsuit, filed in the Beaver
County Court of Common Pleas [official website], accuses manufacturers
and doctors of deceptive acts, fraud, unjust enrichment, negligence,
misrepresentation and public nuisance, seeking in return compensatory damages,
punitive damages and the county's legal costs.
The complaint describes the state of the opioid epidemic in
Beaver County, noting it spends millions annually in response to the opioid
crisis, including expenses for emergency responses, police overtime, and
increased incarceration and treatment. The first 10 pages of the 83-page
complaint set forth support for the county's claim, citing to national and
county-wide opioid-related statistics. According to the complaint, deaths
associated with opioid use have tripled in Beaver County from 1999 to 2015,
causing it to incur the highest rate of fatal overdoses in Pennsylvania in 2017
at 59.9 per 100,000 people.
The majority of the text concentrates on manufacturers'
alleged strategy and tactics which caused and continue to cause addiction,
illness, and death to users. As described in other similar lawsuits, these
plaintiffs accuse manufacturers of promoting the sale and use of opioids
through third-parties, many of whom are doctors:
Recognizing that doctors are gatekeepers for controlling
access to prescription drugs, not surprisingly, manufacturers focused the bulk
of their marketing efforts ... on the professional medical community. As a
controlled substance with significant regulatory barriers limiting access,
Defendants knew doctors would not prescribe opioids to patients with common
chronic pain complaints unless doctors were convinced that opioids had real
benefits and minimal risks. Accordingly, Defendants concealed from prescribers,
patients, and the public that evidence in support of their promotional claims
was inconclusive, non-existent and unavailable. Instead, each Defendant disseminated
misleading and unsupported messages that caused the target audience to believe
those messages were corroborated by scientific evidence. As a result, Beaver
County doctors began prescribing opioids long-term to treat chronic pain—a
treatment choice that most if not all never would have considered prioir to
Defendants' campaign.
Named defendants in the lawsuit include four allied
physicians, and manufacturers and some subsidiaries of Purdue Pharma, Teva
Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo
Health Solutions, Allergan, Actavis, Watson Pharmaceuticals, McKesson, Cardinal
Health, AmerisourceBergen.
To read more CLICK HERE
Posts
1 comment:
As having had a close friend pass from the opioid epidemic, something has to be done. Whether it is increased regulation, increased monitoring of prescriptions being made, etc.
Post a Comment