In a federal courtroom in Ohio a mammoth court case is being assembled. The victims of opioid abuse are going to be fighting the drug manufactures and distributors of opioids. The battle is for payment for the cost opioids have had on the communities. The injured parties range from individual communities to the federal government, and they are seeking money to cover the cost of all the problems related to the opioid epidemic. Simply put, this is the opioid equivalent to the tobacco lawsuit that sought damages for the effects of smoking. The case is being heard in federal district court in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Court Case

The plaintiffs are suing for relief from all the companies responsible for placing opioid medications into the community. The suit has wide ranging claims from that drug companies created a public nuisance, to that they used deceptive advertising. Others are claiming that companies violated consumer protection laws of many states. Further claims go as far as to suggest that the pharmaceutical companies, wholesalers and distributors acted like a criminal enterprise and had predatory practices to create sales and addiction.

The opioid epidemic is now killing more people than motor vehicle accidents. The big drug manufacturers of opioid medications have a long history of trying to persuade the public that these drugs are safe and rarely cause problems with addiction. They have spent huge sums to create a market for their products. The current cost to the public from the opioid epidemic is now running at $500 billion dollars a year. The costs are being paid by everyone in society. The medical costs are huge and stressing budgets at every level of government. Police and first responders are spending millions on everything from drugs to reverse overdoses to the expense of taking care of the dead. Furthermore, jails are becoming packed due to drug-related crimes, and the loss of productive members to society is staggering.

This is an extremely complex case that is moving forward in court. It is likely that this litigation will go on for years. There will probably be a settlement at some point but there will be no winners. Opioids do have some uses but they have been over-prescribed and have caused huge problems of addiction. As a pain practitioner, my wish is that more money is spent on pain research and non-opioid management. Hopefully we will stop losing lives and money to addiction and gain better pain treatment.