Big Pharma’s Tobacco Moment as Star Lawyers Push Opioid Suits
Big Pharma is having a Big Tobacco moment as litigation over opioids attract star lawyers and a growing list of states and local governments seeking their own multibillion-dollar payout to deal with costs of a burgeoning drug epidemic, reports Bloomberg Law.
Six states have sued opiod markers, alleging they have created a public health crisis.
“Plaintiffs’ lawyer Joe Rice, a plaintiff lawyer who helped negotiate a $246 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998, suggests states are laying the groundwork to force a resolution that provides billions of dollars to cover the costs of an epidemic blamed for 62 deaths per day,” explain Jef Feeley and Jared S. Hopkins.