The use of opioids has steadily increased in the United States in recent years. Doctors overprescribing opiates as well as drug manufacturers over-promoting opiates are blamed for an increase in opiates abuse.

Opioids are very powerful painkillers that are prescribed most often in cases of intense pain. Popular opioid medications include OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin and Duragesic, among others.

It will soon be decided by a panel of federal judges if the opiates abuse lawsuits filed nationwide by various communities should be consolidated into a multidistrict litigation.

This proposed opiates abuse multidistrict litigation, or MDL, has been requested by a group of plaintiffs who want the pretrial actions to be consolidated into a single federal court.

Multidistrict litigation can be beneficial when coordinating large numbers of lawsuits that will have similar discovery and pretrial proceedings. These lawsuits can be consolidated in a single district under a single judge and save duplication of actions, time, money and resources for both sides. It also helps to avoid conflicting pretrial rulings.

However, there is some disagreement about whether the opiates abuse cases should be consolidated under an MDL.

These opiates abuse cases all raise similar claims against opioid drug manufacturers. They say that false advertising, negligence, and aggressive marketing has led to the rise in opiates abuse in this country. The opiates abuse lawsuits also allege that these addiction problems are the result of pushy drug manufacturers and have cost the country billions of dollars. The rise in overdoses from opioid drugs is also, the lawsuits allege, the fault of opioid drug manufacturers.

These opiates abuse lawsuits also claim that doctors are overprescribing opioid drugs to patients. The opioid drug use lawsuits have primarily been filed by local governments and government entities against drug manufacturers such as Janssen, Mallinkrodt, Endo and Actavis and against the distributors such as McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health.

Sixty-six opiates abuse lawsuits may potentially become part of this MDL. They are now pending in eleven different federal courts, but fourteen of these cases are located in the Southern District of Ohio.

Some manufacturers support the consolidation and others do not. Most of the difference in opinion is due to differences in drugs and manufacturers. However, even those who oppose the consolidation still agree that there are similarities that involve common questions and facts.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that between 26 and 36 million people abuse opioids worldwide, including 2.1 million people in the United States alone who suffer from some substance use disorders related to opiates abuse.

The NIDA also attributes the current prescription painkiller abuse problem to a number of factors. The drastic increase in the prescription of opioids for the management of pain is a factor, according to the NIDA. Additionally, a “greater social acceptability for using medications for different purposes, and aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies,” has also contributed to the epidemic of opiates abuse in the United States.

If you or someone you love has suffered from opiates abuse you may benefit from speaking with an experienced attorney.

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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