The county of Upshur, Texas is filing a painkiller lawsuit against a number of pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals, alleging they contributed to the opioid crisis in their citizens.

The painkiller lawsuit filed by Upshur County names Purdue Pharma Inc. and other drug manufacturers as defendants, for marketing and producing highly addictive medications like OxyContin and other powerful painkillers.

Upshur County is filing the painkiller lawsuit on behalf of its citizens, county-based assistance programs, and emergency services, alleging opioid drug addiction has severely impacted the county. Legal representatives for Upshur County also claim that certain healthcare providers negligently wrote opioid prescriptions while being aware of the drugs’ highly addictive nature.

Among the Upshur County healthcare providers named in the painkiller lawsuit, Cardinal, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson directly distributed the opioid medications to pharmacies throughout the county. These companies allegedly ignored suspicious marketing behavior, in favor of the financial profits they gained from opioid prescriptions.  Opioids generated $11 billion in revenue alone in 2014.

Upshur County alleges that the deceptive and aggressive opioid pushing brought rising addiction rates and socioeconomic problems.

According to the painkiller lawsuit, there were over 289 million opioid prescriptions written in 2016 alone, with nearly two million Americans becoming opioid addicts in 2014.  Numerous people die from opioid overdose each year, and opioid addiction is a leading cause of death for American citizens under the age of 50. The number of opioid deaths exceeds the number of deaths related to car accidents or gun violence.

The opioid crisis in the United States has severely impacted the country, costing the US approximately $78.53 billion. This cost includes health insurance costs, criminal justice litigation, and substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation.

Painkiller lawsuits allege the manufacturers directly contributed to these problems by manufacturing, marketing, distributing, and selling brand name opioid drugs: OxyContin, Vicodin, Opana, Percocet, Percodan, Roxicodone, and Avinza.

According to the lawsuit, these drug companies also manufactured generic opioids like oxymorphone and hydrocodone, which are just as addictive as their name brand counterpart. Between the late 1990s and early 2000s, each of the manufacturing companies marketed the drugs and allegedly convinced doctors and patients that opioids could be used for chronic pain.

The warning labels of these medications allegedly downplay the risk of addiction and promoted the concept of pseudoaddiction, telling patients they were not becoming addicted despite developing signs of drug dependency.

The manufactures in the painkiller lawsuit allegedly misrepresented the risks and benefits of opioid medications, in order to convince doctors and patients of Upshur County that these drugs were needed to treat chronic pain. On the same note, the companies also convinced them that long-term opioid use was safe and effective.  These claims allegedly contradicted scientific evidence, as well as safety warnings provided by the FDA and CDC. Upshur County is filing its painkiller lawsuit seeking compensation for all the damages caused by the opioid addiction crisis.

This Painkiller Lawsuit is County of Upshur v. Purdue Pharma Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Cephalon Inc., Cardinal, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson, etc., Case No. 2:17-cv-00672-JRG, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall 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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