Opioid Class Action Suit Filed in Five States

On May 2, 2018, three law firms filed class action lawsuits against pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors on behalf of individuals and businesses who have been handed higher insurance costs as a result of the opioid epidemic. The law firms filed suits on behalf of plaintiffs in five different federal courts: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. The complaints all charge major opioid manufacturers and distributors with fraudulent and deceptive marketing practices, negligence in distributing opioids into the marketplace, and other violations of state and federal law. In each of the lawsuits filed, the putative class includes all individuals and corporate entities that purchased health insurance, including individuals who paid for part of an employer-sponsored insurance plan. The complaints allege that each class member paid higher health insurance costs as a predictable consequence of the defendants’ misconduct. The lawsuits are filed against some of the bigger names in the industry, including Purdue Pharma L.P.; Insys Therapeutics, Inc.; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd.; Johnson & Johnson; and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The allegations include the following: Because opioids are highly addictive, prevailing medical norms dictated that they should not be prescribed for chronic pain; The manufacturer defendants disseminate false and misleading statements about opioids; The manufacturer defendants intentionally misled doctors ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs