State Sues Big Pharma For Opioid Carnage

(RTTNews) - Ohio has filed a lawsuit against five major drug manufacturers for their alleged role in the state's devastating opioid epidemic.

In the filing on Wednesday, state Attorney General Mike DeWine accused these companies of intentionally misleading patients about the dangers of painkillers. The drug makers were also said to promote benefits of the drugs not backed by science. DeWine said the companies are accountable for their role in the crisis and need to pay to clean up the deadly mess they created in Ohio.

These drugmakers include Purdue Pharma, Endo Health Solutions, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and its subsidiary, Cephalon, Johnson and Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, as well as Allergan.

In a press release Wednesday, DeWine's office noted that the "lawsuit alleges that the drug companies engaged in fraudulent marketing regarding the risks and benefits of prescription opioids which fueled Ohio's opioid epidemic."

As per reports, 3,050 Ohioans died from drug overdoses in 2015.

In the filing, DeWine said these five companies helped unleash a health care crisis that has had far-reaching financial, social, and deadly consequences in the State of Ohio.

Ohio's lawsuit, following Mississippi's similar filing earlier this year, alleges that these pharma companies engaged in a sustained marketing campaign to downplay the addiction risks of the prescription opioid drugs they sell. They also exaggerated the benefits of their use for health problems such as chronic pain.

Meanwhile, Janssen, one of the defendants, reportedly called the lawsuit legally and factually unfounded.

"Janssen has acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients regarding our opioid pain medications, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about the known risks of the medications on every product label," it said.