Written by 6 More States Join In Suing Rx Drug Makers:
We’ve all been watching as a plethora of network media and social media outlets release news regarding ongoing tragedy – Rx medications leading to an overdose death. And it doesn’t stop there, “I lost my best friend to heroin,” Roy Blackfield told me sadly “She started out on pain killers and the doctors cut her off. She was still in pain and had no choice but to turn to the streets and that’s where we lost her.” The story of how Roy lost his loved one is far from unique or one we don’t hear daily. Opiates and opioids are the leading cause of overdose and accidental deaths – taking two categories at once as the super-strong pain killers are continually prescribed and taken or sold illicitly. After a lengthy battle to find something to handle pain, I personally ended my own opioid crisis by replacing the strong drugs for cancer pain with infused cannabinoid medicine. For many, relief from withdrawal and the pain that made them turn to Rx drugs in the first place is found in Cannabis in various forms.
As reported today by Bloomberg:
Lawsuits filed against Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma and other drugmakers by Tennessee and Florida cast more doubt about the viability of settlement talks aimed at addressing the U.S. opioid epidemic.
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery and Florida’s Pam Bondi on Tuesday accused executives of Purdue and other opioid makers and distributors of fueling a public-health crisis by falsely claiming that the synthetic pain medicine wasn’t addictive. They joined more than 20 other states that have sued companies including Purdue, Johnson & Johnson, and McKesson Corporation over the products.
It’s a twist for Slatery and Bondi, who have been leading settlement negotiations sponsored by a coalition of attorneys general and who’ve deferred from suing makers and distributors of the drug until now. Four other states — North Carolina, Texas, Nevada, and North Dakota — also filed opioid suits Tuesday. They were also part of the talks.
“We are disappointed that after months of good faith negotiations working toward a meaningful resolution to help these states address the opioid crisis, this group of attorneys general has unilaterally decided to pursue a costly and protracted litigation process,” Robert Josephson, a Purdue spokesman, said in an emailed statement.
Separately, hundreds of cities and counties are suing the drug makers and distributors in cases that have been consolidated before a federal judge in Cleveland. The first trial there is scheduled for March, although settlement talks continue.
Quick Settlement?
Lawyers for Stamford, Conn.-based Purdue approached some state attorneys general last year hoping to come up with a quick and affordable settlement of lawsuits seeking to recoup the costs of dealing with the fallout from the opioid addictions.
But six people familiar with the talks said this month they were stalled over the question of who will pay to provide extra funding for law-enforcement and drug treatment budgets, Bloomberg News reported May 3. The companies want to test their defenses to the state’s claims before discussing a multibillion-dollar settlement, the people said.
Slatery’s and Bondi’s decision to sue is an acknowledgment opioid makers and distributors won’t get serious about settling suits until the cases go to trial, said Mike Papantonio, a Florida-based lawyer involved in the litigation.
“You can’t accomplish anything in terms of getting companies to admit they are responsible without filing lawsuits,” Papantonio said. “There won’t be any closure on this without litigation.”
Leigh Ann Jones, Slatery’s spokeswoman, said Tennessee’s top lawyer “will continue to play a leadership role in the multistate effort and settlement discussions.”
Bondi said she wanted an out-of-court deal even though she’d joined the ranks of states suing opioid makers. “We will never stop negotiating,” she said at a press conference Tuesday. The suit is a warning that Florida officials are “fully prepared to go to war” if the companies balk at a settlement, she added.
George Jepsen, Connecticut’s attorney general and another leader of the multistate talks said Slatery and Bondi should press ahead with settlement talks. “We anticipate they will continue in their leadership roles going forward,” he said.
Other attorneys general have dropped out of the talks because they wanted to move aggressively to recover the billions of dollars spent on the opioid crisis. More than 100 Americans die daily from opioid overdoses.
So many people are finding a new life with Cannabis as their medicine. Some prefer CBD with little feeling other than ‘calm’ as many reports. Many more prefer THC plants and strains that relax them. For cannabis oils, I prefer both. To stop the pain it seems that multiple strains do the trick for me but for others, they stick to just one. It all boils down to freedom – the right to make our own personal choice on how to medicate.
Mike Robinson – Medicinal Cannabis Patient, Director of Communications, American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine
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