As part of an ongoing prescription opioid multidistrict litigation, an Ohio federal judge ruled that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) must offer nationwide data on opioid sales.

According to the U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster’s ruling, the DEA’s data will help expand on information on the state level that has so far been “extremely informative” for the litigation.

Judge Polster’s ruling requires the DEA to give detailed data about prescription opioid sales in the U.S. dating from 2006 through 2014. Under the ruling, the DEA will also be required to provide reports about any orders of opioids that may have been suspicious—because of their size, frequency, or pattern, for instance.

The lead attorney for the plaintiffs told Law360 that the upcoming DEA data will give a clearer picture of which companies sold prescription opioids in what areas and through which drug distributors.

“When we’re looking at specific counties, that market share may shift a little bit with regard to the manufacturers, but it shifts dramatically with distributors,” Farrell said to Law360.

“Some of the data is shocking,” Farrell noted, in terms of region-specific prescription opioid sales. “We knew all along that the data would be transformative. What I did not expect is how we underestimated the volume of pills in the various regions of the country.”

In Judge Polster’s order, he also reported that “the parties are engaged in fruitful (if nascent) settlement discussions,” and that the DEA data “will prove essential in settlement discussions regarding apportionment of any obligation [among] defendants and allocation of any settlement funds to plaintiffs.”

Background of the Prescription Opioid Epidemic

Prescription opioids are intended to treat pain, but they are also extremely addictive because they produce a sense of euphoria. They work by reducing the number of pain signals that the body sends to the brain. Though prescription opioids are often advertised as being safe and effective painkillers, they are actually in the same class of drugs as heroin. Unfortunately, these drugs can become extremely addictive, extremely quickly.

The opioid epidemic is growing more and more widespread. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports more than 42,000 overdose deaths from opioids in 2016 alone. According to the CDC, prescription opioid deaths have quadrupled since just 1999, a statistic that is tied closely with the increase in sales during that time. Indeed, around 183,000 people have died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2015.

Addiction to opioids isn’t necessarily something that happens from misuse of these drugs—even taking opioids at the direction of one’s doctor can quickly lead to addiction.

Filing a Prescription Opioid Addiction Lawsuit

If you or someone you love has suffered from opioid addiction or overdose because of a painkiller prescribed by your doctor, you may be able to join the growing number of opioid epidemic lawsuits. While an opioid addiction lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by opioid addiction and overdose, it can help to alleviate some of the accompanying financial burden.

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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