The current opioid crisis has been an increasingly concerning issue among patients and healthcare professionals across the country in recent decades. An explanation for this is the over-promotion and over-prescription of these narcotics, a situation which critics say is allegedly being driven by drug manufacturing companies.

Questions have been raised over the quantity of the medications being prescribed. The spread of opioid addiction has also reportedly led to an increase in related deaths, and sedatives or painkillers prescribed are, reportedly, responsible for the deaths of 183,000 people between 1999 and 2015.

Opioid painkillers function specifically to reduce the number of pain signals sent to the brain by the body, and so, they are also classified in the same group of drugs as heroin.

Moreover, while they are prescribed to help mitigate the level or amount of pain a patient may be feeling, they are also known to produce a level of euphoria. This is particularly why they may become very addictive. Additionally, opioid addiction does not only occur through the misuse of the drug, but also when they are prescribed by a physician, through excepted and systematic use.

Although opioids are relatively safe when taken over short periods of time, they are reportedly extremely addictive, particularly if taken for long time periods. However, opioid manufacturers began marketing their drugs for long term use starting in the mid-1980’s.

Some opioids at the forefront of investigations include, but are not limited to the following: Actiq (fentanyl); Astropmorph (morphine); Avinza (morphine); Dilaudid (hydromorphone); Diskets (methadone); Norco (hydrocodone/acetaminophen); and Vicodin (hydrocodone/acetaminophen).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists these opioid painkillers as the most common reason linked to deaths because of overdose. These drugs are: Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lorcet, Lortab, Norco); Methadone (Methodose, Diskets, Dolophine); Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet, Endocet, Roxicet).

The CDC report lists that more than 2 million people in 2014 suffered from opioid addiction.

Opioid Crisis: Who is to Blame?

Similar to states targeting the tobacco industry in the late 1990’s, drug manufacturers are being targeted for the opioid crisis by state attorneys general and other advocates.

The Ohio Attorney General filed an opioid crisis lawsuit targeting three drug manufacturing companies in May. Ohio allegedly has the highest number of reported opioid deaths in the country. Other lawsuits have also been filed Illinois, Mississippi, counties located in California, and New York, the city of Everett, Wash., and the Cherokee Nation.

These lawsuits are contending that these drug manufacturers “trivialize the risks of opioids while overstating the benefits” in drug efficacy of chronic pain treatment.

The following serious injuries linked to the opioid crisis include: 1) Addiction, 2) Overdose/Death, 3) An elevated level of serotonin, known as the Serotonin Syndrome, which can cause seizures, fever, and muscle rigidity, 4) the reduction of androgen, a hormone, called Androgen Deficiency, and 5) Adrenal Insufficiency, the condition in which the person’s ability to produce the hormone cortisol is inhibited.

In general, opioid addiction lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.

Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual opioid addictino lawsuit or opioid addiction class action lawsuit is best for you. Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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