Hospitals in Alabama as well as Mississippi are suing more than a dozen drug manufacturers, claiming they deceptively marketed and sold dangerous opioids.
Jackson, Mississippi’s Clarion Ledger reports the class-action lawsuit was filed late last week in federal court in Mississippi. The plaintiffs are Infirmary Health Hospitals, based in Mobile, Monroe County Healthcare Authority, based in Monroeville, and Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center based in McComb, Mississippi.
The lawsuit states hospitals have faced additional expenses for treating opioid-addicted patients because the drug companies “pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids, falsely representing to doctors that patients would only rarely succumb to drug addiction.”
Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, is receiving the most claims of deceptive marketing. The company released a statement saying they deny the lawsuit’s allegations and are working diligently to solve the opioid public health crisis.
