An opiate abuse lawsuit was filed in two West Virginia counties, alleging the medications caused socioeconomic devastation and numerous deaths of their citizens.

An increasing number of similar opioid abuse claims have gone to federal court, brought by many llocal governments pursuing their own opiate abuse lawsuit.

Plaintiffs Berkeley County Council and Jefferson County Commission have opted to file their own opiate abuse lawsuits, alleging the opioid manufacturers and distributors falsely marketed and shipped these addictive painkillers.

These counties may be the first West Virginia governments to name both manufacturers and distributors as defendants in a single opiate abuse lawsuit. According to each opiate abuse lawsuit filed by Berkeley County and Jefferson County, the companies named as defendants are OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and several others.

Each of the counties states that the companies deliberately mislead their patrons regarding vital drug safety facts, resulting in numerous avoidable addictions.

Overview of Opioid Crisis

These counties’ lawsuits are some of the most recent additions to a rising number of opiate abuse claims, alleging pharmaceutical companies and their associated distributors directly caused long lasting damage to the counties’ socioeconomic state.

It is important to note that these opiate abuse claims were filed just one week before a panel of judges were set to meet in St. Louis, to discuss potentially forming a multidistrict litigation (MDL).

Lawyers representing Berkeley County and Jefferson County will be attending the judicial panel hearing, along with numerous other lawyers involved in the opioid crisis litigation. Opioid abuse has become a major socioeconomic concern in the 21st century, with numerous individuals and local governments filing opioid abuse claims.

It has been alleged the manufacturers either knew or should have known of their medications’ addictive nature, but failed to disclose this information to the public. In addition, these opioid manufacturers allegedly misled the public and medical community about dosing and how easily patients can become addicted.

This alleged false advertising has reportedly resulted in 183,000 opioid overdoses and deaths between 1999 and 2015. While opioid prescriptions are good options for heavily monitored short term prescriptions, manufacturers allegedly began marketing these drugs for long term prescriptions back in the 1980s.

Due to the extensive history of the opioid crisis, numerous opiate abuse claims have been filed. By combining the claims into an MDL, an opiate abuse lawsuit would be streamlined through the litigation process and would avoid issues like conflicting rulings from different judges.

While consolidation certainly has its benefits, not all parties are in agreement. At least eight local West Virginia governments filing their own claims have complained that consolidating their opiate abuse lawsuits will increase legal costs.

In addition, certain retailers named in some of the claims like Walgreens and Rite-Aid are also against consolidation, with the retailers explaining they operate their own distribution networks and warehouses separate from the pharmaceutical companies. According to Bloomberg, Purdue is proposing a global settlement program in order to try to end the investigations and opiate abuse claims.

Patients who may have developed addiction to opioid due to unnecessary prescription or misleading prescription information may be able to file their own opiate abuse lawsuit.

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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