Lawsuit Claims Pharma Companies Downplayed Risks of Opioid Use

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Purdue Pharma, L.P., Purdue Pharma, Inc., Purdue Frederick Company, Inc., and Abbott Laboratories, Inc. have been named as defendants in a proposed class action that claims they misrepresented the efficacy and risks of using opioids for long-term and chronic pain management. The suit alleges that the defendants marketed their opioid medicines – such as OxyContin, MS Contin, Dilaudid, Dilaudid-HP, Butrans, and Hysingla ER – as safe and effective for long-term use despite knowing they presented “dangerously high risks” of abuse and addiction. The defendants many times contacted physicians and medical providers directly, according to the complaint, and assured them that opioids were a better alternative to “safer, more effective, and less expensive” treatments. As a result, the complaint argues, the defendants “reaped substantial profits” at the unknowing consumers’ expense.