COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a lawsuit Wednesday against five leading prescription opioid manufacturers.
The lawsuit alleges the companies engaged in fraudulent marketing regarding the risks and benefits of prescription opioids. DeWine says these practices helped lead to the opioid crisis in the state.
The companies named in the lawsuit include: Purdue Pharma, Endo Health Solutions, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Johnson & Johnson and Allergan.
The lawsuit alleges, among several counts, that the drug companies violated the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act and created a public nuisance by disseminating false and misleading statements about the risks and benefits of opioids. This false marketing included medical journal advertising, sales representative statements, and the use of front groups to deliver information which downplayed the risks and inflated the benefits of certain formulations of opioids. This behavior proliferated the prescription of opioids and fueled the opioid epidemic Ohio is currently facing.
Attorney General DeWine spoke with WSPD's Scott Sands about the suit: