An Ohio county government is filing legal action over big pharma opioids, alleging the drug manufacturing companies directly contributed to the growing opioid addiction in the area.

The Columbia County Board of County Commissioners claims these big pharma opioids allegedly caused the county to contend with serious addiction problems, driving up costs of healthcare services and rehabilitation. The county alleges the pharmaceutical companies knew the serious risk of addiction associated with big pharma opioids, but allegedly failed to warn care providers and the public.

The Board is is filing this opioid addiction lawsuit on behalf of its citizens against a number of big pharmaceutical companies that allegedly played a direct role in distributing these big pharma opioids to the county’s citizens.

Some of these pharmaceutical companies include Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon Inc., and Endo Pharmaceuticals. The opioid addiction lawsuit contends these companies contributed directly to the growing opioid crisis in the country.

According to the opioid addiction lawsuit, the entire state of Ohio has been afflicted with an opioid prescription rate of 100.1 per 100 patients. The state is ranked 12th in the country for benzodiazepine prescriptions. In addition, the Ohio Department of Health states that the state’s death rate due to opioid overdoses increased 642% between 2000 and 2015.

The opioid addiction seems to be getting worse, with the overdose deaths rising 33% between 2015 and 2016. Columbia County officials allege these big pharma opioids created a public and safety crisis for the citizens that is now a public nuisance.

Overview of Opioid Addiction Lawsuit

Columbia County is filing legal action against these companies, alleging they had used overly aggressive and deceptive marketing tactics to allegedly push the big pharma opioids on the citizens.

The opioid addiction lawsuit also alleges that by conducting these alleged deceptive marketing schemes, the pharmaceutical companies directly contributed to the growing national opioid addiction problem. The lawsuit points out that opioid epidemic is “directly related to the increasingly widespread misuse of powerful opioid pain medications.”

Pharmaceutical companies allegedly failed to warn the public against how addictive these opioid medications were, and had falsely marketed them as ideal choices to treat pain. In addition, these pharmaceutical companies allegedly downplayed the risk of addiction and how easily patients can fall into habit.

Opioid addiction became a serious problem in the 1980s, when pharmaceutical companies allegedly began marketing them for long pain treatment. These pharmaceutical companies allegedly aggressively promoted the medications, while not adequately describing potential detail.

While opioids are highly effective in treating pain, they produce the highly addictive sense of euphoria. According to the FDA, side effects that can develop from big pharma opioids can include:

• Addiction
• Overdose/Death
• Serotonin Syndrome
• Androgen Deficiency
• Adrenal Insufficiency

The distribution of these big pharma opioids has allegedly caused Columbia County to exhaust financial resources on various resources to combat the addiction problems including: medical care, addiction treatment, social services, and rehabilitation services.

This opioid addiction lawsuit is seeking compensation for all these expenses, along with any other relevant damages.

This Opioid Addiction Lawsuit is Columbia County Board Of County Commissioners v. Amerisourcebergen Drug Corporation, et al., Case No. 2:17-cv-00883, in the United States District Court for the Southern District Of Ohio, Eastern Division At Columbus.

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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