Court: United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Case No.: 14-cv-04361
Together with co-counsel, WBE represents the City of Chicago in litigation challenging pharmaceutical manufacturers’ marketing of prescription opioids. Opioids, which are opium-like painkillers, are effective treatments for short-term post-surgical and trauma-related pain, and for end-of-life care. Yet, they are highly addictive and subject to abuse, particularly when used long term for chronic, non-cancer pain. The City of Chicago’s lawsuit alleges that Defendants Actavis, Cephalon, Endo, Janssen, and Purdue knew these facts but implemented a sophisticated and deceptive and unfair marketing campaign to reverse the popular and medical understanding of opioids in order to realize blockbuster profits. As a result of defendants’ campaign, chronic opioid therapy—the prescribing of opioids to treat chronic pain long-term—is now commonplace, and the nation has been swept up in an opioid-induced health epidemic.
To view a copy of the complaint, click here.