City of Pawtucket Signs on to Lawsuit Against Opioid Distributors and Manufactures
City of Pawtucket Signs on to Lawsuit Against Opioid Distributors and Manufactures
PAWTUCKET – Mayor Donald R. Grebien announced today that the City of Pawtucket has formally signed on to a lawsuit against prescription opioid companies responsible for aggressively pushing highly addictive, dangerous opioids and falsely representing their high risk for addition. Pawtucket and municipalities across Rhode Island have felt the impact that the opioid crisis has put on our communities – dividing families and putting children at extreme risk.
“Our family members, friends, and co-workers looked to the medical community for their health and safety, and instead became addicted while multi-billion dollar companies turned a profit,” said Mayor Grebien. “Our first responders are on the front-lines responding to over-doses and seeing firsthand the damage that it has caused. I stand with my fellow mayors to ensure that this does not continue to happen and that the companies are held accountable.”
These pharmaceutical companies aggressively advertised to and persuaded doctors to prescribe highly addictive, dangerous opioids, turned patients into drug addicts for their own corporate profit. The companies also failed uphold the federal Controlled Substances Act to monitor, identify and report suspicious activity in the size and frequency of opioid shipments to pharmacies and hospitals.
The manufacturers listed as defendants in the lawsuit include: Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and its subsidiary Cephalon, Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Health Solutions, Allergan, Activis, and Watson Pharmaceuticals. Rhode Island law firm Hamel, Waxler, Allen & Collins is representing the City in Rhode Island District Court.
On January 22nd, Lieutenant Governor Daniel McKee, thirteen municipalities and law enforcement officials from across the state announced that they would be filing a public nuisance lawsuit against drug manufacturers and drug distributors in response to the opioid epidemic