County Files Suit Against Opioid Manufacturers

From The County of Santa Cruz:The County of Santa Cruz has filed a 140-page complaint accusing several top drug manufacturers of fueling the nationwide opioid epidemic, one of the worst public health crisises in U.S. history.

According to the complaint, drug manufacturers downplayed the risks of prescription opioids in order to increase sales, both through sales representatives and marketing materials and through financial arrangements with third-party groups. It is futher alleged that manufacturers and distributors failed to report suspicious sales as required by State and federal law. In doing so, the defendants greatly expanded their potential market by millions of patients while leaving local communities to pay the price for the epidemic. "The consequences of these drug companies' negligent and fraudulent actions are all around us," Supervisor John Leopold said. "By repeatedly ignoring and downplaying risks, they have created an unparalleled opioid crisis impacting families and communities across America. It is time to hold them accountable for their actions." "Drug companies pushed a dangerous product on consumers and concealed the risks from the public," Supervisor Ryan Coonerty said. "Communities across the country are paying enormous costs for their fraudulent practices and greed, including millions in public health and public safety dollars to address an addiction epidemic that was manufactured in corporate boardrooms." Since 1999, more than 200,000 people have died of overdoses from legal prescription opioids alone – roughly the equivalent of the city of Reno, Nev. That figure does not include the hundreds of thousands of additional victims who overdosed on illicit drugs after transitioning from doctor-prescribed opioids.

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