The Cherokee Nation is blaming several major American drug makers of intentionally flooding the market with addictive opioid medication in a new Cherokee Nation opioid lawsuit.

The Cherokee Nation, centered within the state of Oklahoma, is the largest Native American tribe in the United States with over 320,000 enrolled members. It is a federally recognized government with sovereign status and its own constitution.

Recently, it has filed a Cherokee Nation opioid lawsuit against the three largest pharmaceutical distributors in the country including AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, and Cardinal Health. These three companies work as middlemen between pharmacies and drug manufacturers and distribute nearly 90% of the prescription painkillers in the United States.

The Cherokee Nation has accused these companies of intentionally flooding the black market with opioids as well as not regulating the overprescribing of such medications.

Why are Opioids Dangerous?

Opioids are highly addictive painkillers that have been prescribed in larger and larger amounts over the past few decades. The Cherokee Nation as well as others believe that these drug companies allow opioids to be overprescribed and promoted in excessive ways to patients.

Opioid painkillers can become quite addictive if taken for a long period of time. In the short term, they are very effective pain relievers. But over time, they can have devastating effects.

Some effects related to the use and overuse of opioids include addiction, overdose and death, serotonin syndrome (a fatal level of serotonin in the body leading to seizures and even death), androgen deficiency (a reduction in the amount of sex hormone androgen) and adrenal insufficiency (the production of cortisol from the adrenal glands is reduced affecting the cardiovascular system and metabolism).

The Cherokee Nation Opioid Lawsuit

In addition to AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, and Cardinal Health being named in the Cherokee Nation opioid lawsuit, Walgreens, CVS Health and Wal-Mart are all included as well.

The Cherokee Tribe alleges that these named companies have regularly filled very large prescriptions in 14 Cherokee Nation counties, all located in Oklahoma. Additionally, some patients “doctor shop,” meaning that they see different doctors and get prescriptions from each one. The Cherokee Nation opioid lawsuit alleges that these drug companies did nothing to stop this and turned a blind eye to these practices. Often, these patients would provide many different prescriptions for the same medication from different doctors.

Nearly half of all the enrolled Cherokee Nation members live in Oklahoma, and the state itself leads the nation in abuse of opioid medications. One-third of opioid painkillers prescribed to patients in Oklahoma were to Cherokee members.

The problems for Cherokee Nation members who struggle with opioid abuse are numerous. Many babies are born with opioid addictions, the use of OxyContin by Native American high school students is twice the U.S. average, and there were over 350 fatalities due to opioids between 2003 and 2014.

In this Cherokee Nation opioid lawsuit, they allege that these drug companies are turning a profit because of an addiction epidemic in a vulnerable population and that the drug companies are taking advantage of CherokeeNation members.

Nikki Baker-Limore, executive director of child welfare for the Cherokee Nation, says, “Somebody needs to stop letting these opioids be so readily available. We’re a small-town community. It’s hitting us hard.”

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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