Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
An opioid class action lawsuit has been filed against more than two dozen pharmaceutical companies, seeking to hold them accountable for what it calls a “serious opioid crisis” facing Quebec and the rest of Canada.
The pharmaceutical defendants manufacture, market and/or distribute opioid drugs in Quebec, Canada.
These opioid drugs include fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone and oxymorphone, according to the Canada opioid class action lawsuit.
Opioids work by attaching to receptors in the brain, blocking the patient’s feeling of pain, the opioid class action lawsuit says. The drugs also slow down the patient’s breathing and have a calming effect.
Although opioids are effective at treating pain, the opioid class action lawsuit says that “these drugs are dangerously addictive, and the growing number of addictions, overdoses and deaths in Quebec and Canada caused by opioids has been declared by the Government of Canada to be a public health emergency.”
According to the plaintiff, listed only as “EV” in the court documents, opioids had primarily been used for short-term treatment of acute pain and to treat palliative care patients. Initially, opioids were believed to be too addictive to use for long-term pain treatment, the Canadian opioid class action lawsuit states.
EV says she visited her doctor around nine years ago for treatment of chronic pain caused by polymyalgia-rheumatica, fibromyalgia and osteo-arthritis. According to the opioid class action lawsuit, she was prescribed an opioid medication to treat her pain.
The plaintiff alleges she was told by her doctor that there was “no reason to hold back” on prescribing opioids and that they had been advised to “feel free to prescribe opioids more liberally.”
EV says she interpreted these statements as being an official recommendation by the Canadian Medical Association or another reputable medical group.
The plaintiff claims that she was not informed about any risks associated with opioid use and took the drugs as prescribed.
Because she developed an increasing tolerance to the drugs, she was prescribed higher and higher doses to treat her pain. At one point, she says her daily dosage was equivalent to 150mg of morphine. The recommended maximum daily dose of morphine is reportedly only 90mg. According to the opioid class action lawsuit, she was addicted to opioids for about seven years.
EV’s opioid addiction reportedly impacted her quality of life, her relationships and her decision-making. She says she made bad financial decisions while addicted to opioids which led her to seek bankruptcy protection and seek a legal settlement with her creditors.
The plaintiff seeks to represent a Class of persons in Quebec who have been prescribed opioid medications manufactured, marketed, distributed or sold by any of the defendants since 1996, and who have suffered from Opioid Use Disorder.
The opioid class action lawsuit notes that the putative Class also includes direct heirs of deceased persons who would otherwise qualify as Class Members.
EV seeks compensatory damages of $30,000 per Class Member and punitive damages of $25 million from each defendant.
The plaintiff has also asked the court to grant damages for each individual Class Member’s personal losses, which would be recovered on an individual basis.
This Quebec opioid addiction lawsuit is similar to another opioid crisis class action lawsuit that was filed recently in Ontario.
Have you been prescribed opioids? Share your story with us in the comments below.
EV is represented by Fishman Flanz Meland Paquin and Trudel Johnston & Lespérance.
The Canadian Opioid Crisis Class Action Lawsuit is EV v. Abbott Laboratories, et al., Case No. 500-06-0010040197, in the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, District of Montreal, Canada.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
14 thoughts onOpioid Crisis Class Action Seeks Payment For Canadians
I have been prescribedOpioidsSince 2007It is 2021 im prescribed hydromorphone its turned into a horrible addiction for myself im abusing them by snorting them as taking them orally has Stopped working im working on Quitting but this is the most difficult thing iv ever done in my life plesse help me
Maranda, I am so so sorry to hear of your inhumane situation. I too am a chronic pain patient through no fault of my own from injuries from a car accident also no fault of mine. I have been a positive and eager pain patient from day one always looking and trying out the latest non pharmaceutical pain therapy. In ten years I have spent over $100,00 on non pharmaceutical options for pain, many of which either did not work at all or did not work for very long. I have been abandoned by two physicians since the guidelines became enforced like some draconian law in 2017. I even discussed the potential for these guidelines to be adopted by Canada back in 2016 when they were being developed and enforced in the US. I was assured by all my physicians, that no such thing would happen and I did not have to worry as my dosage was not considered high. Fast forward to this week at a meet and greet to find a family doctor willing to care for me including prescribing my pain medication. It was one of the worst encounters yet. Basically I was shamed for ever taking narcotics in the first place and shamed for not wanting to come off of them to have a better life with much less pain as my medication is apparently causing all my pain and disability. My options were to accept her as my doctor and agree that the focus of care would be to taper and utilmately stop all pain medication in 1 to 3 years. I left saying no thankyou that it was a cruel and unjust way to treat a pain patient and given my experience of a previous forced taper, I said I guess I will have to go the euthanasia route. The sad thing is, I’m not suicidal, but I don’t want to be forced to live in worse constant debilitating pain. I have lots to live for but apparently no health professional I have been in contact with agrees with that. After all, the new narrative is no matter the cause of your chronic pain, if you are taking any opiates at all, you are the product of your own actions. shame on me for wanting some pain relief! I’m not asking for zero pain just some relief to be able to live some semblance of a life. Also, I was also shamed for accepting my sad situation too easily and if only I would agree to coming off the medications I would be able to go back to work and drive as I like. All these judgements from a person that spent mere minutes with me and has no idea what I have done to try and get better. I was gutted just gutted. She also suggested that I should revisit some of the interventions that no longer work as now with a break they will probably work again. I’ve been arm twisted into doing that before and ended up with a month straight of migraines after a 3rd round of Botox injections and no I did not get any increase in pain medication to deal with the added pain inflicted on me. Its too easy for MDs to to make sweeping judgements about their pain patients and quickly withdrawal care and or prescribing appropriate pain medication that includes narcotics. No one seems to really care about our blight. Death seems like the only option, but I really don’t want that, but if I’m forced off my medication like last time, I may just welcome it. Its so sad that those are the options left for many pain patients. Its inhumane and since doctors have chosen to protect themselves and their licences the legal route it the only other option left to fight. I hope you can hang in there until something changes in our favour. Things are gradually changing in the US but its nothing major but a start. That gives me hope that here in Canada maybe we will follow suit and perhaps even do better. BTW I am truly sorry for all the families who have lost family members to addiction I really am. However, the advances in treatment of addicts and the subsequent changes in prescribing guidelines enacted like law, should not have been blindly enacted without considering the collateral damage to another patient population the chronic pain patient that happens to benefit from the responsible use of narcotics as part of their treatment plan.
I was.prescribed oxycontin when it first came out on the market. Tge wonder drug..no pain at all. That was u til it was nevwr enough and my happy Dr who prescribed them was mysteriously not at tye clinic anymore. I would still receive 2 to 300 40 mg tablets a month until my pharmacy got involved. After that it was a battle to feel normal. Tried everything, even Rapid detox twice. To this day im still battling but winning by being in a substance to help with cravings. I lost shares in a multi million dollars company. Lost relationships, lost almost everything valuable. It changed the course of my life. I hate this drug company.Without them manufacturing this drug I wouldn’t be in this situation.
I have been on opiods for 24 years now. They are the only medications that control my Narcolepsy with cataplexy without major anxiety and spiking blood pressure problems. Yes, they do work very well at keeping Narcoleptics with Cataplexy awake and functional. I have never had a problem with addiction, only tolerance. I have had my dose increased twice. My problem is being able to get this medication and at a dose that works. Currently at 7.5/325 three times a day Hydrocodone. There are people who actually need this medication, never had a problem and now can’t find a Dr willing to prescribe them. It’s costing my life! And I did nothing wrong or put myself in any situation, others did the way I see it more and more. I am angry! Since making a 200 mile move I have gone 6 weeks without my medication and needing an increase long before that. My quality of life is almost nonexistent, I can’t make it across the front of walmart, take care of basic things due to total exhaustion, lack of energy and my body breaking down., my life is falling apart, my mental health is declining. I am only 55! Dr’s are to afraid they will get flagged. Who do I sue for this??