Pharmaceutical firms win opioid trial in Georgia court on suit filed by victims
Pharmaceutical firms win Opioid trial in Georgia court as victims, in a first, takes legal route
In a first-ever lawsuitfiled by victims of the opioid epidemic, and brought on to trial, a Georgia court gave its verdict in favour of pharmaceutical companies.
The individual plaintiffs claimed that the medicine distributors Cardinal Health Inc (CAH.N), McKesson Corp (MCK.N) and JM Smith Corp, which hold a federal licence were resorting to illegal measures in taking opioid orders.
They said that the pharmaceutical companies were not adhering to the federal Controlled Substances Act and were cashing in by not reporting the scepticalpurchases.
Also Read | Philippines dispatches resources to contain oil spillage from sunken tanker 'Princess Empress'
The court trial was brought by 21 plaintiffs. It included kinof opioid-addictive parents who lost their lives, a woman whose grandson died at the age of one month and was born with opioid addiction symptoms and a rape-survivor whose opioid-addicted mother did not tend to her.
Glynn County Superior Court jury, after hours of deliberations, favoured the companies in the trial, which was brought on by individuals and not by any government entity, as is the case always.
"We are pleased with the jury's decision, which confirms that a law meant to apply to street dealers of illegal drugs cannot be used in a misguided attack" on distributors of federally licensed drugs, Cardinal said in a statement.
Also Read | Russia, China slam West for blackmailing, attempting to interfere in other countries' internal affairs
Often pharmaceutical companies end up paying huge amounts of money insettlements of these sorts of opioid-related litigations, however, in this case, the companies were exonerated by the Georgia court. As per statistics, legal matters in over 3,300 state, local and tribal governments against opioid firms has ended in over $50 billion in settlements.
This included manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies.
The prescription opioid menace is a major cause of concern in the United States as the deaths caused by it have risen in recent years.According to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the number of reported deaths involving prescription opioids totalled 16,706 in 2021, a significant rise from 16,416 deaths reported in 2020.
(With inputs from agencies)
WATCH WION LIVE HERE
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.