The County of Bowie, Texas, files a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma L.P, Johnson & Johnson, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., alleging that the defendants’ marketing of prescription opioids caused an increase in addiction, criminal activity, and loss of life.

The county’s claims focus on opioid medication, but particularly OxyContin, an opioid medication also known as oxycodone, prescribed to treat severe pain. The opioid lawsuit suggests that there is a high risk for addiction and dependence for anyone prescribed this medication. There are also suggestions that it may cause respiratory distress and death, specifically when taking in high doses or combined with other substances, such as alcohol.

According to the OxyContin lawsuit, “in 2016 alone, health care providers wrote more than 289 million prescriptions for opioids, enough for every adult in the United States to have more than one bottle of pills.”

The use of too much opioid medication can and often does lead to the misuse and abuse of these medications. In 2014, the OxyContin lawsuit explains, 2 million Americans suffered from an opioid addiction. In the same year, “more people died from drug overdoses than in any other year, and most overdose deaths involved an opioid.”

In Americans over the age of 50, two-thirds of opioid accidental overdoses make up overdose deaths. In addition, deaths suffered from drug overdose, and specifically from opioids, occurs more and at an exceeding amount than deaths suffered from gun violence and car accidents.

The OxyContin lawsuit maintains that this opioid drug epidemic did not occur by chance. The defendants market and sell opioid drugs at an increasingly dangerous rate. These brand-name drugs include but are not limited to OxyContin, Vicodin, Opana, Percocet, Percodan, Roxicodone, Avinza, oxymorphone and hydrocodone.

Historically, the OxyContin lawsuit explains, opioids were considered too dangerous for treatment of less severe pain associated with conditions such as back pain, migraines, arthritis, chronic pain, and even end-of-life care.

However, according to the OxyContin lawsuit, by the 1990’s and early 2000s, these defendants began to market and persuade physicians and medical community that opioid drugs should be prescribed to treat chronic pain and pain that is less then severe.

Allegedly, the OxyContin lawsuit states, “Each defendant spent, and continues to spend, millions of dollars to promote the benefits of opioids for chronic pain while trivializing or even denying their risks.”

The OxyContin lawsuit accuses the defendants of downplaying the risk of opioid addiction; promoting the idea of “pseudoaddiction,” the idea that patients showing signs of addiction should be treated with more opioids; and exaggerating the effectiveness of addiction prevent through the use of measures and tools, 4)

Bowie County further alleges the defendants claim falsely that opioid addiction can be easily handled, incorrectly deny the higher risks involved in increased opioid dosages, and overstate the effectiveness that “abuse-deterrent opioid formulations” have on preventing opioid abuse and addiction.

The OxyContin Lawsuit is Case No. 5:17-cv-00168-RWS-CMC, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Texarkana Division.

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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