New York sues big pharma firms over role in opioid crisis

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the lawsuit amounts to $500m and said: “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”, he added.

The city requested the half-a-billion dollars to cover the damages caused by the opioid crisis that the manufacturer's allegedly played a role in and for them to “forfeit their ill-gotten gains”.

The city is suing manufacturers Purdue Pharma, The Purdue Frederick Company, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Endo, Allergan, Janssen Pharmaceuticals of Johnson & Johnson and distributors McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen Corporation.

The lawsuits argument is that while some people get directly hooked on opioid street drugs, many became innocently addicted to prescription painkillers. In 2015 approximately 92 million adults were prescribed these kind of drugs routinely.

High profile deaths have included pop star Prince and rock star Tom Petty who both had fentanyl in their system at their time of death.

The lawsuit alleges that the pharmatheutical companies marketed the drugs in deceptive ways. According to the lawsuit, the manufacturers knew or should have known that prescription opioids have not been demonstrated to be effective treatment for chronic non-cancer and are highly addictive and could be easily misused.

The pharmaceutical companies have denied the claims in statements.

Sarah Freeman, a spokesperson for Janssen Pharmaceuticals told The Hill, “We maintain that the allegations made in these lawsuits against our company are baseless and unsubstantiated. Our actions in the marketing and promotion of our opioid pain medicines were appropriate and responsible.”

The city has joined a number of states and municipalities also suing drug companies for their “misleading marketing tactics”. Chicago sued Big Pharma in 2014.

Also, this is the second major lawsuit against big corporations where the city is asking for compensation for risking public health and environmental issues. Earlier this month, New York sued large fossil fuel companies for their role in climate change.