A site to “Hold Big Pharma Accountable”
Summary and Analysis…
This site just came to our attention. It gives voice to an important aspect of the public policy debate concerning the opioid crisis: the degree to which the pharmaceutical industry should be held accountable.
There’s little doubt that Big Pharma contributed to the crisis and profited enormously from widespread and voluminous sales of opioids. How that will translate into a way to hold the offending companies responsible is yet to be determined. Whatever form potential reparations could take, a key aspect will be properly structuring them to best help individuals, families and communities.
Excerpted from Opioid Lie
Since the year 2000, deaths from prescription opioids have more than quadrupled; more than 500,000 American lives have been cut short. With this staggering death toll, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a “national public health emergency.”
But, now, the real work begins. And we need your help.
Many states have introduced “opioid stewardship fee” bills and more than 250 cities, towns, states, hospitals, labor unions, and Native American tribes have filed lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors for their roles in creating this crisis. These measures are a direct way to punish opioid profiteers for deceptively pouring enormous volumes of narcotics into America, and bring desperately-needed funds to communities to address the problem.
The lawsuits charge opioid manufacturers and distributors with such misdeeds as:
- Overstating the benefits of prescription opioids
- Downplaying the risks of opioid use
- Aggressively marketing these drugs to physicians
- Failing to monitor, refuse, and report suspicious orders of prescription opioids as required by law
Americans and their community leaders want pharmaceutical companies held accountable and are seeking restitution. The path to ending our nation’s opioid crisis requires massive financial resources communities and governments do not have available.
If you believe big pharma owes billions — not millions — in reparations, stand with us today.
