Teva in trouble for pushing pain killers
Photo: EPA
Chicago suing Teva: Opium for the masses
Report claims Teva being sued together with group of pharmaceutical manufacturers for getting Chicago's residents hooked on painkillers to boost their sales.
Israel's Teva is being sued by the city of Chicago together with other major pharmaceutical manufacturers for excessively promoting painkillers, effectively getting people hooked and costing the city untold amounts of money, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
The third largest city in the US is demanding retribution from Teva and other companies like Johnson & Johnson for the costs of dealing with almost half a million claims for opioid prescriptions.
“Since 2007, the city has paid for nearly 400,000 claims for opioid prescription fills, costing nearly $9,500,000, and suffered additional damages for the costs of providing and using opiates long-term to treat chronic non-cancer pain,” Bloomberg reported, citing a state court complaint filed Monday in Chicago.
According to the report, the city's lawyers accused the drug companies of lying to the public about the risks entailed in pain-killer usage, while overselling their benefits.
Teva is being sued for the painkiller Percodan, and the other drug makers mentioned in the suit are Purdue Pharma which makes OxyContin, Endo Health Solutions which produce Percoset, Johnson & Johnson for Duragesic and others.
According to medical study cited by Bloomberg, more than 12 million people in the US abuse prescribed painkillers a year, and such abuse lead to more drug related deaths than heroin and cocaine together in 2008.
The city, is accusing the firms of civil conspiracy, fraud and violations of local city laws. The report further said that Chicago is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
