— from the Seattle Times Nina Shapiro
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes on Thursday filed separate lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies, including OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, accusing them of fueling the state’s ongoing opioid epidemic.
The city of Seattle’s suit includes Purdue, Teva Pharmaceuticals and several other prescription drugmakers. The state’s suit involves only Purdue, accusing the company of using deceptive marketing to convince both patients and doctors that the drug is effective for treating chronic pain and carries low risk of addiction.
The company downplayed the risk of taking the drugs, according to the attorney general’s office.
(To read the full article, go to seattletimes.com//washington-state-ag-bob-ferguson-seattle-sue-oxycontin-maker)
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Wow! I have always liked Fergusen because of his courage to take on the big issues affecting Washington residents! This is great and long overdue for the Drug companies! Go Bob! Spirit Eagle
Makes as much sense as suing a wheat farmer because you have celiac disease!
It’s a fact that opioids are over-prescribed by many doctors and it’s big money for big pharma. opioid addiction is fueling our heroin addiction because once the opioids run out, people turn to street sellers. Anyone who doesn’t know this shows their total ignorance on the subject. Bob Ferguson is doing his job – it’s what State Attorney Generals are supposed to do – protect the people from unscrupulous business practices of any kind.
Come on Scott…when the drug companies are shipping enough opioid pills to a state to provide hundreds of pills for every resident of the state, they must be held accountable!
The misuse of a product in commercial circulation is NEVER the fault of the product’s manufacturer.
Most misuse occurs on the retail (sales and consumption) level.
If the AG really wanted to do something about the misuse of opioids, he should pay attention to the doctors who over-prescribe, and to the pharmacies which unquestioningly fill those prescriptions.