Drug companies win in California opioid crisis lawsuit

AP ^ | 01 November 2021 | ROBERT JABLON and DONALD THOMPSON

[blueplum]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California judge has ruled for top drug manufacturers as local governments seek billions of dollars to cover their costs from the nation’s opioid epidemic.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson issued a tentative ruling on Monday that said the governments hadn’t proven the pharmaceutical companies used deceptive marketing to increase unnecessary opioid prescriptions and create a public nuisance.

“There is simply no evidence to show that the rise in prescriptions was not the result of the medically appropriate provision of pain medications to patients in need,” Wilson wrote in a ruling of more than 40 pages.

“Any adverse downstream consequences flowing from medically appropriate prescriptions cannot constitute an actionable public nuisance,” the ruling said.

[blueplum]

a ruling that's sure to be challenged but that may have far-reaching implications in lawsuits in other states. Is the judge is throwing the responsibility back into the laps of the individual doctors who prescribed?

[The Free Engineer]

But... that would be reasonable.

[Glennb51]

Hopefully, he is putting the responsibility on the ultimate user.

I see a case like this as no different than suing firearms manufacturers or vehicle manufacturers for what the end user did with the product.

A very slippery slope.