Six States Sue Opioid Manufacturers for Deceptive Marketing
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The attorney generals of Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas recently sued Purdue Pharma, marketer of Oxycontin, alleging the company violated their states’ consumer protection laws (Lardieri, 2018).
The accusations against Purdue included that it understated Oxycontin’s addictive potential and exaggerated the medical benefits of opioids (Lardieri, 2018). Also among those sued were The Purdue Frederick Company, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Purdue Transdermal Technologies, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Lardieri, 2018).
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton noted that Purdue Pharma opioid sales amounted to “billions of dollars,” and that his lawsuit “seeks significant penalties from the company for its illegal conduct” and demands “a permanent injunction to prevent future harm to Texans” (Lardieri, 2018).
Purdue’s spokesman has denied the attorney generals’ accusations (Lardieri, 2018). As of publication, twenty-two states and Puerto Rico have filed suit against Purdue Pharma (Lardieri, 2018). Meanwhile, 115 Americans per day die as a result of an opioid overdose (NIH, 2018).
References
Lardieri, A. (2018). Six more states sue opioid manufacturers for nationwide epidemic. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2018-05-16/6-more-states-sue-opioid-manufacturers-for-nationwide-epidemic
National Institutes of Health (NIH). (2018). Opioid overdose crisis. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis
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