Federal Judge Dan Polster believes that the way the three chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart distributed the painkillers led to major problems in two counties in the state of Ohio. Polster wrote in the decision that the money, around NOK 6.3 billion, should be used to fight the opioid crisis, which is still ravaging the local communities in Lake and Trumbull counties. According to the lawyers in the county, the crisis has cost them 3.3 billion dollars. Lake will receive $306 million and Trumbull will receive $344 million over a period of 15 years. Polster decided that the company must immediately pay almost 87 million dollars. The money will finance the first two years of a plan to end the opioid problem. Notice of appeal CVS, Walmart and Walgreens say they will appeal the decision. It is unclear whether the company will have to pay anything while the appeal process takes place. The lawyers for the three pharmacy chains claim they had guidelines to slow down the sale of pills when pharmacists reported irregularities and that they notified the authorities of suspicious orders from doctors. They also claim that it was the doctors who controlled how many pills were prescribed for legitimate medical needs. The three pharmacy chains must pay for having contributed to the worsening of the opioid crisis in two counties in the state of Ohio. Photo: AP 400 pills per resident Prescriptions were written for around 80 million painkillers in Trumbull County in the years from 2012 to 2016. This corresponds to 400 pills per resident. In Lake county, around 61 million pills were printed in the same period. In particular, it is a question of painkillers of the hydrocodone and oxycodone types. It is the first time pharmacy chains in the country have tried to defend themselves in a lawsuit about the crisis, which has led to half a million deaths in the United States in the last two decades. Many more similar lawsuits are taking place where local governments around the US are trying to hold the pharmacy chains responsible for the role they have played in the opioid crisis. According to the BBC, over 3,000 such lawsuits have been filed against manufacturers of opioid medicine and pharmacies. In the USA, close to half a million deaths have been linked to overdoses of such painkillers in the last 20 years. Also in Norway In this country, between 5,000 and 10,000 people may be addicted to, or in the process of developing an addiction to, strong pain medication. Figures from the prescription register show that in 2004 there were 4,380 people who had fentanyl dispensed from pharmacies in 2004. In 2020, the number was 7,961. Many painkillers find their way to the illegal market. In 2020, 324 people died of overdoses in Norway. Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl were the third most frequent cause of overdose deaths. 15 percent of those who died of an overdose in 2020 died due to an overdose of synthetic opioids.
ttn-69
Pharmacy giants must pay huge compensation in opioid lawsuit – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
