Florida is the latest state accusing Walgreens and CVS in a lawsuit with contributing to the opioid crises in that state, as well as nationally. I wonder if they'll sue Ford and Chevy for the getaway cars for bank robbers next?
The SouthCoast is in the throes of this crisis, and I'd like to see some positive steps in helping to shrink it, but I have a tough time with these lawsuits. Everyone knows it's a multi-billion dollar industry, and lawyers are lined up around the block suing everyone--doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and the manufacturers themselves. But the lawyers are going after the epidemic the wrong way by suing the supply at the pharmacies. What are we doing to address the demand?
The news media is awash with hysteria about the opioid crisis or opioid epidemic. But what exactly are we talking about? If you Google opioid crisis, most of the time the first paragraph will report on death rates.
But that's not the opioid crisis--that's the overdose calamities. Is the opioid crisis the same as the overdose crisis? Absolutely not. One has to do with addiction rates, the other with death rates.
I think it's going to be very difficult to persuade a federal jury that an FDA-approved product is defective. Besides, if the drug's packaging warns the prescribers about a risk, manufacturers have no legal duty to also warn the patients.
It will be very interesting to see how you can hold Walgreens and CVS accountable for harms that arise from blatant misuse of a product.
Phil Paleologos is the host of The Phil Paleologos Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Contact him at phil@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @PhilPaleologos. The opinioins expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.