HERNANDO COUNTY Fla. — Hernando County officials say they will sue big pharmaceutical companies for their role in the Opioid epidemic.
- County believes the large companies are responsible for opioid addictions
- Lawsuit names top pharmaceutical companies
- Overdose prevention groups praise county's decision
The lawsuit alleges that many of the nation's largest drug manufacturers pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids and deliberately misinformed doctors by claiming that patients using the drugs rarely experienced addiction.
Pinellas County Narcotics Overdose Prevention & Education group praised the county's decision.
“We applaud both local efforts at the county level as well as state and national to not only bring attention but hold these pharmaceutical companies accountable. Because we have thousands and thousands of people who are addicted and certainly to opioids which were misrepresented by the pharmaceutical companies for years and years saying these are not addictive drugs, but we know they certainly are,” Pinellas County N.O.P.E coordinator Laurie Serra said.
This lawsuit also names the nation's largest retail pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens and Walmart "for their role in failing to report suspicious opioid orders."