Hospitals have now joined in an opioid lawsuit alleging that drug manufacturers aggressively push these fatal medications. Two Alabama hospitals have joined the opioid lawsuit in Mississippi against opioid manufacturers.
The cost of the opioid epidemic is a big one and one that is affecting some states, like Ohio, harder than others. The ripple impacts of the addiction problem, however, can be seen across the country.
According to that lawsuit, the manufacturers are accused of knowingly spreading addiction for the purpose of corporate profit. Infirmary health hospitals in Alabama’s Monroe County Health Authority filed the opioid lawsuit recently along with hospitals in Mississippi.
More than 20 companies were targeted for aggressively pushing opioid medications including Endo Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Johnson & Johnson.
According to the opioid lawsuit, these pharmaceutical companies pushed dangerous and highly addictive medications through misleading and fraudulent marketing campaigns that minimize the risk for abuse, addiction and overdoes to patients as well as doctors.
According to some industry advocates, hospitals are the front-line troops dealing with the opioid battle because billions of dollars have been lost treating opioid related medical concerns.
Pharmaceutical companies have not accept any claims of wrongdoing and say that they are working with government agencies to help resolve the opioid epidemic.
Many of these hospitals claim that they want to be a part of the solution, however, increasingly cities and other authorities are coming forward to lodge opioid lawsuits because they are left dealing with the consequences in terms of catastrophic medical bills and managing overdoses.
The opioid addiction problems have become an epidemic across the country, prompting many opioid lawsuits for the alleged complicit nature of the drug makers’ involvement in encouraging the opioid crisis. The manufacturers are accused of misleading advertising.
There are now more than 75 states and cities currently suing pharmaceutical companies regarding the damaging addiction crisis. The opioid epidemic was officially declared a public health emergency at the end of October.
A September report from the National Institute on Drug Abuse anticipates that the addiction epidemic in America will push drug related overdoses and deaths to more than 71,000 in 2016.
This would be the second consecutive year that deaths from opioid addiction and overdose would surpass fatalities from the Vietnam war.
These lawsuits do have some precedent from those legal claims lodged against tobacco companies in the 1990s, wherein manufacturers of cigarettes were blamed for misleading information about nicotine.
Although an opioid lawsuit is going against big pharma, the legal foundations of these suits will likely be based on a similar premise that the medications are highly addictive and lead to massive costs for healthcare and government entities.
If you believe you have grounds to pursue a lawsuit against opioid makers, contact an experienced attorney.
The lawyers at McDonald Worley are currently investigating claims involving potential opioid lawsuits. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more.