NPR Article
Four drug companies settled with Summit and Cuyahoga counties to avoid a landmark case for liabilities in the opioid crisis, what would have been the first of federal court cases for thousands of similar opioid cases across the country. Distributors Amerisource Bergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson pledged $215 million; manufacturer Teva pharmaceuticals will pay $20 million in cash and another $25 million in addiction and overdose treatment medication. This accountability for the medical and pharma sectors will have wide reaching implications over the entire US health field, and we shall see how similar cases will play out in the future.
It's good that firms have started taking such initiatives to fight the opioid crisis but we should also realize what a big hand the pharmaceutical industry has had in creating the crisis in the first place. Reactionary measures are important but precautionary measures are just as important to make sure this opioid crisis is finally put a stop to.
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