15 Arkansas Hospitals Sue Opioid Makers

15 Arkansas Hospitals Sue Opioid Makers

Introduction

A group of 15 Arkansas hospitals has joined several hospitals throughout the U.S. by filing a civil suit against illegal trading, distribution, and manufacturing of opioids.

The drug overdose rate in Arkansas rose from 5.4 per 100,000 people to 14 per 100,000 people between 2000-2016. The lawsuit, filed in the Washington County Circuit Court, states that the company wrongly marketed the opioids by showcasing only the benefits and hiding the setbacks, which resulted in the crisis throughout the nation affecting the people.

The growing rate of the opioid crisis has affected many people in the country, for which the hospitals are trying their best to serve the people affected because of opioids. The compensatory treatments cost a lot to the hospitals, which has resulted in the hospitals filing lawsuits against the manufacturers and makers.

Opioid lawsuits consolidated under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation), presided by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster.

Even Donald Trump, former President of the United States, announced the opioid crisis as a Public Health Emergency under the federal law considering the death of 72,000 Americans from its overdose in 2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided the necessary data and evidence to support the fact.