Opioid Addicted Children Class Action Lawsuit Hits Dozens of Drug Makers

Representatives of opioid addicted children who were exposed to the painkillers in utero have filed a class action lawsuit against a multitude of big pharma companies.

The caretakers of the opioid addicted children allege in the class action lawsuit that the billion-dollar companies flouted the law to keep selling the popular painkillers. While making additional billions and fueling the opioid epidemic that kills tens of thousands each year, big pharma allegedly placed children of addicts at risk for neonatal abstinence syndrome.

According to the class action lawsuit, neonatal abstinence syndrome is a condition where infants are exposed to drugs, such as opioid painkillers, while still in utero. These opioid addicted children, along with their caretakers, face a steep uphill battle against complications from the condition.

“Defendants’ wrongful conduct has allowed billions of opioid pills to be diverted from legitimate channels of distribution into the illicit black market in quantities that have fueled the opioid epidemic in West Virginia,” alleges the complaint in the opioid addicted children class action lawsuit. “As a result, unknowing patients and unauthorized opioid users have ready access to illicit sources of diverted opioids.”

The class action lawsuit alleges that the big pharma companies, including Purdue Pharma LP, Jassen, and Johnson & Johnson failed to take appropriate measure to flag suspicious use of the addictive painkillers that continue to proliferate the opioid epidemic. In the pursuit of profit, allege the caretakers of opioid addicted children, the drug makers sought expanded use of the painkillers and turned a blind eye to a burgeoning black market, including doctors and drug dealers.

“Acting against their common law and statutory duties, defendants have created an environment in which opioid diversion is rampant,” alleges the opioid addicted children class action lawsuit.

According to the class action lawsuit, in West Virginia, for every 1,000 babies born in 2017, 50 of them were opioid addicted children. Nationally, the rate of children born with neonatal abstinence syndrome increased fourfold between 2000 and 2012.

The opioid addicted children class action lawsuit contends that the costs of the increased incidence of this condition are high for the children affected, their caregiver, the medical system, and society in general.

“Neonatal exposure to opioids necessarily results in medical needs that exist through the entire period of a child’s adolescent development. These needs absolutely exist, regardless of the dosage any one child received prenatally or how he or she was weaned from these substances,” points out the complaint. “Every single child diagnosed with opioid-related [neonatal abstinence syndrome] must have robust medical testing, monitoring, intervention, provision of caregiver training and information, and medical referral in order to maximize his or her future as an adult.”

The class action lawsuit is seeking damages as well as a court order requiring the drug companies to pay for the medical needs and care of opioid addicted children.

The lead plaintiffs and proposed Class Members are represented by Thomas E. McIntire of Thomas E. McIntire & Associates, J.K. Weston and Andrew Sacks of Sacks Weston Diamond LLC, and Marc Dann of The Dann Law Firm.

The Opioid Addicted Children Class Action Lawsuit is Shaffer, et al. v. Purdue Pharma LP, et al., Case No. 2:18-cv-01448, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.