New York county sues Purdue, J&J over opioid marketing
Source: Reuters
BUSINESS NEWS | Mon May 15, 2017 | 6:14pm EDT
New York county sues Purdue, J&J over opioid marketing
By Nate Raymond
A county in New York state has sued Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and other drugmakers, accusing them of fraudulent marketing to play down the risks of prescription opioid painkillers, leading to a drug epidemic.
The lawsuit, which also named units of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA) and Endo International Plc (ENDP.O) as defendants, was announced on Monday by Orange County, New York, which is located in the southeastern part of the state.
The case, filed in a New York state court on Thursday, is the latest lawsuit by local and state governments seeking to hold drugmakers accountable for a national epidemic tied to painkillers.
The Orange County suit claims the drugmakers engaged in a deceptive marketing campaign that misrepresented the dangers of long-term opioid use to doctors, pharmacists and patients in order to encourage their use.
Those misrepresentations about drugs like Purdue's OxyContin and Endo's Opana ER led Orange County to incur health care, criminal justice and other costs related to addiction, the lawsuit said.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-opioid-idUSKCN18B2NC