NYC Sues Big Pharma For $500M Over Opioids Crisis

NBC News reports:

New York City filed a $500 million lawsuit Tuesday against prescription opioid manufacturers and distributors, seeking to hold them accountable for their alleged part in the city’s drug epidemic.

The lawsuit aims to recover expenses the city will incur in combating the crisis. In 2016, more than 1,000 people in New York City died of an opioid overdose, according to official data — the highest number on record.

“More New Yorkers have died from opioid overdoses than car crashes and homicides combined in recent years. ‘Big Pharma’ helped to fuel this epidemic by deceptively peddling these dangerous drugs and hooking millions of Americans in exchange for profit,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

The New York Post reports:

The lawsuit alleges opioid manufacturers used deceptive marketing to flood the city with prescription painkillers, creating “a substantial burden on the city through increased substance use treatment services, ambulatory services, emergency department services, inpatient hospital services, medical examiner costs, criminal justice costs and law enforcement costs.”

Targeted companies include: Purdue Pharma, Inc.; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Johnson& Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The suit follows a similar action against major oil companies, blaming them for their role on climate change and its impact on the city.