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At the April 17th City of Magee Board of Aldermen meeting, the board voted to join the growing number of cities and states filing suit over the opioid crisis. Beasley Allen Law Firm in Montgomery, Al will represent the city. City Attorney Bruce Smith suggested the firm based on their past record in litigation matters. Bruce has previously worked with the firm. The city will incur no cost to pursue the case. A possibility exist that the city will receive money if the lawsuit is won. According to Smith, the suite will be filed in Federal Court. Beasley Allen will receive 1/3 of the proceeds from the suit. Bruce received a copy of the complaint filed which consist of 155 pages.
Beasley Allen employs more than 75 lawyers and over 200 support staff.
The primary offices are based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Montgomery, Alabama, although they work with attorneys and clients throughout the country. The Atlanta office focuses on cases in the state of Georgia and especially in the metro area. Beasley Allen represents plaintiffs and claimants in the following areas: Business Litigation, Personal Injury and Product Liability, Medical Devices and Drugs, Fraud, Employment Law, and Environmental.
In March 2018, President Trump said he supports pursuing a federal lawsuit against opioid drug makers, along with stricter laws for illegal opioid drug trafficking. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice is helping local and state governments by providing data about prescription painkiller sales to support opioid lawsuits at the local level.
Since 1999, there has been a 300% increase in opioid prescriptions in the United States. Along with the increase in prescriptions, there’s been a deadly uptick in opioid addiction, which is now the leading cause of death in individuals under the age of 50. While many opioid abusers resort to buying illegal substances like heroin, 75% of addicts have reported that their first opioid was a prescription drug.
Now, the opioid crisis has led to thousands of lawsuits are being filed against doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies, blaming them for the catastrophic increase in opioid addiction, overdoses, and drug-related deaths in America.
Claims against pharmaceutical companies allege that these drug companies hid evidence of the dangers of opioids, and downplayed their highly-addictive nature. Plaintiffs also say that these companies pushed their drugs onto the market via aggressive marketing tactics, quotas for representatives, and financial kickbacks for doctors who prescribed opioids. Corporations have even been accused of creating fake third-party “advocacy” campaigns to falsely advertise the safety of their medications.
Pharmaceutical Companies Being Sued
• Purdue Pharma LP
• Teva Pharmaceuticals (and its subsidiary, Cephalon)
• Janssen Pharmaceuticals (owned by Johnson & Johnson)
• McKesson Corporation
• Cardinal Health
• AmerisourceBergen Corp
(information: ConsumerSafety.org)
