San Francisco: The Latest To Sue Opioid Pharma Companies

San Francisco: The Latest To Sue Opioid Pharma Companies

Introduction

San Francisco is the latest to sue a slew of prescription drugmakers and distributors alleging that they went against the federal laws by marketing opioids as safe to use drugs. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a lawsuit on behalf of the city of San Francisco and the state of California in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco accusing the drug providers like Purdue Pharma of fraudulent practices and causing public health epidemic. The lawsuit would be transferred to the federal court in Ohio where 1,200 similar opioid lawsuits, filed by various cities, counties, and states, are under U.S. District Judge Dan Polster.

Judge Dan Aaron Polster of the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division, who overlooks the opioid multidistrict litigation recently denied a motion to dismiss filed by pharmaceutical companies. The judge allowed about 1,500 lawsuits brought by communities across the nation including the city of Providence, to move forward in the litigation. Opioids such as oxycontin, oxycodone, and fentanyl have been linked to respiratory disorders, heart complications, addiction, and overdose deaths. A recent report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Center for Health Statistics revealed fentanyl as the most dangerous drug used in the U.S.