Doctors and other treatment providers once limited opioid prescriptions to patients facing terminal conditions or extreme pain. However, in the late 1990s, Purdue and other manufacturers started marketing these medications for non-cancer diagnoses and chronic pain. Most claims arise from those campaigns and their effects on patients.
Allegations
Drug manufacturers must warn if a product has possibly dangerous side effects. The law considers them the experts on their products, so it holds this duty to a high standard. It is also a continuing duty, meaning the company must warn of side effects as they discover them.
The plaintiffs’ allegations focused on this lack of warning. Their main claims against manufacturers and distributors include:
- Aggressive marketing of OxyContin and other opioid medications
- Downplaying addiction and overdose risks associated with opioids
- Failing to investigate or report suspicious repeat orders of opioids (mainly against drug stores)
Government agencies alleged that these actions placed significant social and financial burdens on their communities. Individuals claimed injuries or lost loved ones to wrongful death.
Injuries and Side Effects of OxyContin
Companies’ marketing campaigns and misleading statements allowed more people to receive OxyContin. As an opioid, it is a powerful pain reliever that reduces pain receptors in the brain.
As prescribed, OxyContin is a controlled-release tablet that treats pain over 12 hours. Daily use results in physical dependence, which causes withdrawal illnesses if the patient stops the drug too suddenly. But when users bypass the time-release elements, they experience other effects of the drug, including euphoria and relaxation.
Since many people obtain OxyContin through legitimate means and with insurance coverage, it is accessible. Once secured, addicted users can chew tablets or crush and snort them like cocaine. Others may mix it with water and inject it like heroin, experiencing more relaxation and euphoria.
Individuals may doctor shop or meet with doctors in different cities and states to maintain multiple prescriptions. In other incidents, pharmacy workers may sell it on the street for extra cash or doctors may fraudulently prescribe the drug.
All of these factors contributed to the opioid addiction crisis. Individuals lost homes, jobs, and families to their addiction. Others lost once-productive loved ones after deaths from overdoses. The devastating result: 500,000 deaths due to overdose over the last two decades.
While less publicized, OxyContin also has potentially deadly side effects. These include breathing difficulty, extreme sleepiness, and eye issues.
Costs to Government Entities
Addiction affects communities and governments too. Rural communities especially became overwhelmed with law enforcement and health care costs.
Many addiction-related crimes involved robbery. Drug stores across the east coast faced burglary as people sought their OxyContin fix. Also, OxyContin became a popular street drug, often called “OC,” “Oxy,” and “Oxys.” These street versions became especially dangerous if dealers laced the original drug with Fentanyl or heroin.
According to the CDC, this crime and health crisis resulted in the following costs:
- In 2017, the economic cost of the epidemic was estimated at 1,021 billion
- Of that amount, opioid use disorder cost $471 billion, and fatal opioid overdoses at $550 billion
- Costs varied between states, ranging from $985 million in Wyoming to $72,583 million in Ohio. Per capita, that ranged from $1,204 in Hawaii to $7,247 in West Virginia
- The most affected areas included the Ohio Valley and New England
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