Local Georgia Governments Sue Pharma Companies Over Opioid Crisis

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Another proposed class action has been filed against a group of 22 pharmaceutical companies and distributors over claims that the defendants’ deceptive marketing scheme and negligence have fueled the nation’s growing opioid crisis. From the complaint:

“These pharmaceutical companies aggressively advertised to and persuaded doctors to prescribe highly addictive, dangerous opioids—turning patients into drug addicts for their own corporate profit.”

The suit claims the manufacturer defendants have downplayed the risks of long-term opioid use and, through deceptive marketing techniques, have convinced doctors to prescribe the medicine to “a far broader group of patients who are much more likely to become addicted and suffer other adverse effects” from using the drugs.

Furthermore, the case claims the wholesale distributor defendants failed in their duties to “monitor, detect, investigate, refuse, and report suspicious orders” of opioids and, as a result, have allowed abuse and addiction to spread.

The suit seeks relief for a proposed class of all Georgia cities, counties, and governments “that have suffered the same losses” due to the “defendants’ creation of a public nuisance and their violations of the Federal and Georgia RICO statutes, negligence, negligence per se, and unlawful and deceptive trade practices.”