More New Yorkers have died from opioid overdoses than car crashes and homicides combined in recent years. Big Pharma helped to fuel this epidemic by deceptively peddling these dangerous drugs and hooking millions of Americans in exchange for profit. It’s time for hold the companies accountable for what they’ve done to our City, and help save more lives.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he supports the lawsuit because it is “time for Big Pharma to pay for what they’ve done. It’s time that they are held accountable.”
New York City has become the latest city to hold Big Pharma accountable for the role it has played in the Opioid Epidemic. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city has filed a $500 million lawsuit against eight major drug companies that distribute prescription opioids because it is “time for Big Pharma to pay for what they’ve done. It’s time that they are held accountable.”
The companies named in the lawsuit include manufacturers Allergan Plc, Endo International Plc, Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma LP and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, and distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp.
In a statement, de Blasio noted that he feels the lawsuit is necessary because deaths from opioid overdoses have reached unbearable heights in recent years, and now occur more often than deaths from car crashes and homicides—combined.
“More New Yorkers have died from opioid overdoses than car crashes and homicides combined in recent years. Big Pharma helped to fuel this epidemic by deceptively peddling these dangerous drugs and hooking millions of Americans in exchange for profit. It’s time for hold the companies accountable for what they’ve done to our City, and help save more lives.”
The lawsuit is accusing manufacturers of misleading consumers and hiding the dangers of highly addictive prescription opioids, and it is accusing distributors of oversupplying the drugs, ignoring suspicious orders, and helping illegal suppliers. As Reuters reported, more than 42,000 Americans died from opioid-induced overdoses in 2016, and more than 1,100 of those deaths occurred in New York City.
In statements responding to The Hill’s request for comment on the lawsuit, Endo and Purdue Pharma denied the allegations, Janssen Pharmaceuticals called the claims “baseless and unsubstantiated,” AmerisourceBergen said it has been working closely with the DEA, and Allergan insisted that its products containing opioids were only responsible for 0.08% of the overdose deaths in 2016.
thefreethoughtproject.com/new-york-city-sues-big-pharma-for-deliberately-fueling-opioid-epidemic/
h/t trickymason