Millions of people in the country have become addicted to opioid-based pain relievers over the past 20 years.
A federal judge has ruled that the three largest drugstore chains in the United States must pay $650.5 million to help fuel an opioid abuse crisis in two Ohio states.
In November, a federal court found that Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS and Walmart had contributed to the creation of highly addictive opioid pills.
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The money will be used to help combat the impact of the crisis in Lake and Trumbull counties.
The companies plan to appeal the decision.
Millions of people in the US have become addicted to opioid-based pain relievers such as fentanyl and oxycodone over the past 20 years.
Nearly half a million deaths were attributed to painkiller overdoses between 1999 and 2019.
Attorneys from Lake and Trumbull counties in court? Are they both close to Cleveland? estimated the total financial cost of the crisis at US$3.3 billion.
Both states and other U.S. jurisdictions argued that the crisis put tremendous strain on local health resources, social programs and legal systems.
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His lawyers argued that the lack of certainty that prescriptions were valid created public disturbance as large volumes of pills poured into their communities.
More than 80 million pain relievers were distributed in Trumbull County between 2012 and 2016. about 400 pills per person.
Lake County would have had 61 million pills in the same period.
The U.S. District Judge ruled that Lake County would receive $306 million over 15 years, and Trumbull County $344 million.
In the short term, the three companies were ordered to pay approximately $87 million to cover the first two years of the plan.
The decision was lauded by officials in both counties.
Lake County Commissioner John Hamercheck, for example, said the decision “marks the beginning of a new chapter in the fight to end the opioid crisis.”
The three companies denied the allegations and claimed they were trying to prevent the painkillers from being diverted for illegal use.
Also, they claimed to be doctors? and not pharmacies? This ultimately determined how many pills were prescribed and to whom.
The three companies that contacted the BBC said they would appeal the decision.
“We have never produced, marketed or distributed opioids to the ‘illegal outlets’ and online pharmacies that fueled this crisis,” Walgreens said in a statement. Said.
“The plaintiffs’ attempt to resolve the opioid crisis by unprecedentedly expanding the public harassment law is misguided and unsustainable,” he adds.
More than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed against opioid manufacturers and pharmacies in hopes of reclaiming the amount spent fighting the crisis.
source: Noticias
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