Ohio Sues Drug Companies Over Opioid Epidemic

Authorities in Ohio filed a lawsuit Wednesday against several pharmaceutical companies for marketing drugs in a way they say contributed to the state’s opioid crisis. The lawsuit, filed by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, accuses drug makers of creating misleading or deceptive advertising campaigns that fail to inform patients about the risks of overdose and addiction. The state has one of the highest overdose rates in the country, along with Kentucky, New Hampshire, and West Virginia. In the lawsuit, DeWine accuses drug companies of spending “millions of dollars on promotional activities and materials that falsely deny or trivialize the risks of opioids while overstating the benefits of using them for chronic pain.” Ohio’s lawsuit adds to a long list of litigation against drug companies by other states and jurisdictions, in a case reminiscent of the legal battle waged against tobacco companies in the 1990s by numerous states. Mississippi, West Virginia, the City of Chicago, and counties in New York and California have all sued pharmaceutical companies for allegedly contributing to the drug epidemic. The respondents in Ohio’s lawsuit include Purdue Pharma, Teva, Johnson & Johnson, Endo, Allergan, and others.