A California man has filed an opioid overdose death class action lawsuit for the wrongful death of his wife who was prescribed opioids for long-term pain management.

Plaintiff RD B., of Huntington Beach, California, has filed this opioid overdose death class action lawsuit against several defendants, some of whom include Purdue Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and Johnson & Johnson.

His wife, Melanie, was prescribed opioids for over a twelve week period of time in order to reduce her chronic pain, according to this opioid overdose death class action lawsuit. After an injury to her left arm left her in chronic pain, she was prescribed opioids. She suffered from an unintentional overdose and died, the plaintiff says.

RD seeks certification for this Class in this opioid overdose death class action lawsuit, claiming that there are others similar in situation to his deceased wife. He believes the drug companies acted irresponsibly and without regard for human life.

The Opioid Addiction Epidemic

Plaintiffs like RD in his opioid overdose death class action lawsuit claim that drug manufacturers have purposely overmarketed opioids to the American public even while knowing they are dangerous and highly addictive.

The use of opioid prescription drugs has increased in recent years, and many believe that they are being overprescribed by doctors as well as over promoted by the drug companies that manufacture them.

According to RD’s opioid overdose death class action lawsuit, “The experiment of trying to control pain by prescribing limitless amounts of inherently dangerous opioids has become a public health disaster. Opioids do not serve the purpose for which they are prescribed. “

He claims that opioid drugs were aggressively marketed to both patients and physicians and that “the economic opportunity to capitalize on the desperation of chronic pain sufferers looked like an untapped gold mine to … opioid manufacturers.”

RD asserts that his wife was an “innocent, unknowing target of the wrongful unbranded … promotion of long-term opioid use for chronic pain.”

Because so many Americans have been prescribed and are now addicted to opioids, there has been an increase in opioid-related deaths and overdoses. Between 1999 and 2015, 183,000 people died from opioid overdoses. If taken over a longer period of time, opioids are addictive and can be harmful.

Even though this opioid overdose death class action lawsuit is about “unbranded” opioids (meaning, that a brand is not named), many named opioids are subjects of other lawsuits and are implicated in the opioid overdose deaths of many people.

These opioid drugs include fentanyl (Actiq, Duragesic, Fentora), morphine (Astropmorph, Avinza, Kadian, MS Contin), hydromorphone (Dilaudid, Exalgo), methadone (Diskets, Dolophine, Methadose), oxycodone (Endocet, OxyContin, Percocet, Roxicet) and hydrocodone/acetaminophen (Lorcet, Lortab, Vicodin, Norco).

The opioid painkillers that are most often connected with opioid drug overdose deaths include methadone, oxycodone, and hydrocodone.

If you or someone you love has been affected by prescription opioid abuse or overdose, you may benefit from speaking with an experienced attorney.

This Opioid Overdose Death Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 8:18-cv-00745-CJC-KES in the Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Orange.

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

If your loved died from an opioid overdose in the last three years from an addiction that began as a legal opioid prescription from his or her doctor, you may have a legal claim. Get help now by filling out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation.

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