In both cases, the charges essentially boil down to the pharmaceutical companies Endo and Allergan downplaying the risks of the potent drugs and turning a blind eye to mishandling of the drug, including wrongfully shipped suspicious orders.
Endo is known for manufacturing the powerful opioid Opana that was removed from the market in 2017 following pressure from the FDA. According to a Tuesday press release, Endo has agreed in principle to pay the counties $10 million — the estimated cost of trial — as well as $1 million in free blood pressure medicines. According to news first published Monday in the The Wall Street Journal, opioid-producer Allergan has tentatively agreed to pay the counties $5 million to settle charges over its branded opioids.
Ohio has become known an an epicenter of the opioid epidemic, and Northeast Ohio along with the rest of the state has been wrecked by the influx of opioid-related deaths in recent years.
Endo and Allergan were selected among 2,000 consolidated lawsuits to undergo the first test, or bellwether, trial relating to drug companies’ responsibility in the epidemic. While a trial is still scheduled for Oct. 21 in the U.S. District Court in Cleveland, these tentative settlements diminish the possibility of the two companies being held accountable in federal court proceedings.
Frank Gallucci, an attorney representing Cuyahoga County, told Cleveland.com that both the Cuyahoga and Summit County Councils and the boards of both drug companies still need to approve settlements in order to avoid the impending October trial.
Unsurprisingly, neither Endo nor Allegan has accepted responsibility or admitted fault for their role in perpetuating the opioid epidemic.
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This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2019.
Disgusting. These scumbags belong in jail. 15 million probably isn’t even 0.01% of the outrageous amount of money that these drug dealers made helping to get your friends and family members hooked on painkillers.
How anyone can call this justice is beyond me, and meanwhile, when addicts get caught with their products they face up to a year in jail for each count. Does that seem fair to anyone?
I guess the lesson here is, if you’re going to engage in criminal activity, make sure you do it under the guise of “legit” business, that way you won’t have to worry about going to jail or prison. You can just pay a fine that doesn’t represent even 1% of the total amount of profit you made, and you can laugh all the way to the bank, just like these companies are doing.
Democracy is officially dead, in case you haven’t noticed. Welcome to the Oligarch States of America.
Long live the OSA, where you can get away with anything provided you have enough money to pay a fine and lobbyists. The so called justice system in this country should be ashamed of itself.
It doesn’t seem to me that $15 million is anywhere near enough money. Where did anyone get the idea this was enough???