Cities and states are now battling the opioid epidemic with the pharmaceutical industry in court to curb the situation. For long it was impossible to talk about the causes of America’s opioid epidemic without blaming the distributors and manufacturers who conquered the market with the opioid painkillers.
Hundreds of opioid lawsuits have already been filed across the US against opioid makers and distributors.
We don't know where the danger lies
Opioids are highly dangerous painkillers and are hazardous for two reasons: First, they are strongly addictive. In fact, the drugs can be as addictive as heroin, which means that once a person starts using them to treat pain, the habit would become almost impossible to break. Second, these drugs have life-threatening side effects, including health risks when used with other drugs or substances (like alcohol). It has also been associated with causing worsened conditions such as sleep apnea, respiratory depression, and dependence. This is why the victims of the drug filed for opioid lawsuit.
Opioid addiction can ruin a person’s life with not just severe health problems, but leading to crime, loss of employment, and more. According to Consumer Reports, closely 17,000 people die per year as a result of opioid overdoses.
Hundreds of opioid lawsuits have already been filed across the US against opioid makers and distributors.
We don't know where the danger lies
Opioids are highly dangerous painkillers and are hazardous for two reasons: First, they are strongly addictive. In fact, the drugs can be as addictive as heroin, which means that once a person starts using them to treat pain, the habit would become almost impossible to break. Second, these drugs have life-threatening side effects, including health risks when used with other drugs or substances (like alcohol). It has also been associated with causing worsened conditions such as sleep apnea, respiratory depression, and dependence. This is why the victims of the drug filed for opioid lawsuit.
Opioid addiction can ruin a person’s life with not just severe health problems, but leading to crime, loss of employment, and more. According to Consumer Reports, closely 17,000 people die per year as a result of opioid overdoses.
Understanding opioids
Opioids are medically categorized as a class of pain relievers which produce endorphin in the body to reduce pain. It is commonly prescribed in patients who suffer from chronic pain, specially after the surgical stress following any elaborate dental or toothache procedure. It is also given to patients suffering from terminal illness such as cancer. Common cough medicines also contain mild opioids. But, they are all given by an expert physician who limits the usage of the drug.
Today, there are two major legal arguments behind the opioid lawsuits, one against opioid manufacturers and another majorly against the distributors:
1) Starting in the mid-1990s, opioid manufacturers have unleashed a highly misleading marketing push underplaying the risks of opioid painkillers and overstressing the benefits of the drug. The lawsuits argue, how the misbranding adds up to false advertising with fatal results. This was specifically done by encouraging doctors to overprescribe them and getting patients to think how they were safe and effective.
2) On the other hand, the opioid distributors supplied tons of these pills, even when they were aware of the misuse of the drugs. This is backed by data which reveals in some counties and states, there were more prescribed bottles of painkillers than the population— defining something very wrong. Federal and some state laws necessitate distributors to keep a check on the supply chain to ensure their products aren’t falling into the wrong hands. Letting these drugs proliferate, as the lawsuits sate, violates those laws.
It is not your fault
If you or your loved one has been injured from the overdose or addiction from the use of opioid painkillers, understand that it is not your fault.
Becoming addicted to opioids and even eventually falling prey to its overdose is not always something one can handle even with the finest sense of self awareness. It should be understood that opioid epidemic in the United States has not been caused by patients seeking relief from pain, but what claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands individuals and destroyed the lives of many more was a group of greedy drug manufacturers which made billions from opioid sales at the expense of patients and the public health.
Opioids are medically categorized as a class of pain relievers which produce endorphin in the body to reduce pain. It is commonly prescribed in patients who suffer from chronic pain, specially after the surgical stress following any elaborate dental or toothache procedure. It is also given to patients suffering from terminal illness such as cancer. Common cough medicines also contain mild opioids. But, they are all given by an expert physician who limits the usage of the drug.
Today, there are two major legal arguments behind the opioid lawsuits, one against opioid manufacturers and another majorly against the distributors:
1) Starting in the mid-1990s, opioid manufacturers have unleashed a highly misleading marketing push underplaying the risks of opioid painkillers and overstressing the benefits of the drug. The lawsuits argue, how the misbranding adds up to false advertising with fatal results. This was specifically done by encouraging doctors to overprescribe them and getting patients to think how they were safe and effective.
2) On the other hand, the opioid distributors supplied tons of these pills, even when they were aware of the misuse of the drugs. This is backed by data which reveals in some counties and states, there were more prescribed bottles of painkillers than the population— defining something very wrong. Federal and some state laws necessitate distributors to keep a check on the supply chain to ensure their products aren’t falling into the wrong hands. Letting these drugs proliferate, as the lawsuits sate, violates those laws.
It is not your fault
If you or your loved one has been injured from the overdose or addiction from the use of opioid painkillers, understand that it is not your fault.
Becoming addicted to opioids and even eventually falling prey to its overdose is not always something one can handle even with the finest sense of self awareness. It should be understood that opioid epidemic in the United States has not been caused by patients seeking relief from pain, but what claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands individuals and destroyed the lives of many more was a group of greedy drug manufacturers which made billions from opioid sales at the expense of patients and the public health.
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