An opioid addiction lawsuit has been filed by the County of Rusk in Texas against a number of pharmaceutical companies. The big pharma companies include Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Laboratories and a number of other companies and related entities.

According to the opioid addiction lawsuit, “The United States is in the midst of an opioid epidemic caused by Defendants’ fraudulent marketing and sales of prescription opioids (‘opioids’) that has resulted in addiction, criminal activity, and loss of life.” The lawsuit goes on to state that in 2016, more than 289 million prescriptions were written for opioids, which was enough for every adult in the U.S. to have more than one bottle of pills.

Contributing to the economic losses of $78.5 billion are things such as “lost productivity and increased social services, health insurance costs, increased criminal justice presence and strain on judicial resources, and substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit also notes that drug overdose deaths, with two-thirds of these deaths being opioid overdose deaths, are the main cause of death for Americans under age 50.

The drugs in question are well-known drugs such as OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet, Percodan, Fentanyl, Ultram, Ultracet and more. The lawsuit claims that “[h]istorically, opioids were considered to addictive and debilitating for treating chronic pain, such as back pain, migraines, and arthritis, and are used only to treat short-term acute pain or for palliative or end-of-life care.”

In the late 90s and early 2000s, the lawsuit claims that opioid manufacturers “began a marketing scheme to persuade doctors and patients that opioids can and should be used for chronic pain,” spending millions of dollars to promote the benefits of these drugs for persistent pain conditions “while trivializing or even denying their risks.”

The lawsuit claims that the drug companies engaged in six false and misleading actions, stating that they “(1) downplay the serious risk of addiction; (2) promoted the concept of “pseudoaddiction” thereby advocating that the signs of addiction should be treated with more opioids; (3) exaggerated the effectiveness of screening tools in preventing addiction; (4) claimed that opioid dependence and withdrawal are easily managed; (5) denied the risks of higher opioid dosages; and (6) exaggerated the effectiveness of “abuse-to turn” opioid formulations to prevent abuse and addiction.”

As a result of these allegations, the County of Rusk filed this opioid addiction lawsuit on a number of counts including nuisance, common-law fraud, negligence, gross negligence, violation of the Texas Controlled Substances Act (TCSA), violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and unjust enrichment.

The plaintiff in the opioid lawsuit requests declaratory judgment, an enjoinder that will prohibit direct and indirect continued misrepresentation of the risks and benefits of opioid use for chronic pain, punitive and exemplary damages, restitution for Rusk County consumers who purchased opioids for chronic pain management, pre-and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs and that the “Defendants be ordered to abate the public nuisance that they caused in violation of Texas common law.”

This Opioid Addiction Lawsuit is Case No. 6:17-cv-00634, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler 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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