PURDUE PHARMA, the maker of painkiller OxyContin, last week settled a $20 million lawsuit brought against it by a Canadian province. It is a relatively trivial amount for a firm worth billions, but it could be part of a death by a thousand cuts.
Since Purdue released OxyContin just over 20 years ago, the company has made from it. But the drug has been linked to an opioid addiction epidemic that has swept Canada and the US. And there have been claims Purdue didn鈥檛 accurately describe the addictive potential of the opioid analgesic, which also induces euphoria and reduces anxiety.
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In 2007, Purdue pleaded guilty to US federal charges of misbranding the drug and was ordered to pay $600 million. The company still sells a version of it, and as the medicine is out of patent in the US, it is also sold by other firms in generic form as oxycodone. Purdue鈥檚 owners are also eyeing other markets through firms in Central and South America, the Middle East, Africa and South-East Asia.
However, the settlement last week might be a key turning point. The suit was launched 10 years ago by 2000 Canadians who claimed to be addicted to OxyContin after prescriptions from doctors, and sued the company for not disclosing that it knew the product was addictive and would lead to withdrawal symptoms if patients stopped using it. The payout includes $2 million for Canadian provincial governments, which in 2014 alone.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a relatively trivial amount for a firm worth billions, but it could be a death by a thousand cuts鈥�
The company hasn鈥檛 admitted any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. But, says Ray Wagner, the lawyer who prosecuted the class action suit in Canada against Purdue, similar cases brought against it by other Canadian provinces and parts of the US could stem the sales of OxyContin, and maybe stall international expansion.
Municipalities in the US are getting on board. The city of Everett in Washington is suing Purdue for 鈥渋ntentional, reckless, and/or negligent misconduct鈥�, claiming its product fuelled a spike in heroin-related deaths in the area. Some research suggests that .
Purdue says it is 鈥渢roubled by the abuse and misuse鈥� of its medication, and that the 鈥渓awsuit paints a completely flawed and inaccurate portrayal of events that led to the crisis in Everett鈥�.
Nonetheless, other regions are reportedly considering suits. If enough copycat lawsuits end in settlements, the money begins to add up.
Additional lawsuits broaden the range of possible defendants to include distributors of generic versions of the drug. In West Virginia, where six of the 55 counties in the state have the highest opioid-related death rates in the US, lawmakers in the city of Huntington are suing three drug distributors 鈥� Amerisource Bergen, McKesson and Cardinal 91色情片 鈥� for bringing millions of opioid painkillers into the state between 2007 and 2012. Thousands have overdosed in those counties, and the city is seeking restraining orders for the companies and punitive damages for what it claims amounted to flooding a small market with drugs that can cause addiction. These challenges are being defended.
With oxycodone now being marketed worldwide, the outcome of such lawsuits will do a lot to ensure the drug鈥檚 reputation precedes it.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淐an lawsuits stop the US opioid epidemic?鈥�
