New Information Comes to Light on How Opioids Targeted Communities
You’ve probably heard conspiracy theories, some of which are rooted in fact, about how the CIA imported drugs like cocaine and distributed them in inner cities in the form of crack to target a vulnerable, mostly black, population. Today, you can add another conspiracy to that list. This one involves opioids being mass distributed by pharmaceutical companies to rural communities that are destroyed in the process.
The Washington Post published an article on how Norton, VA, Virginia’s smallest city, was targeted by opioid companies to manufacture what has become the opioid epidemic. Doctors, for their part, liberally prescribed the painkillers for minor aches and pains that are a part of everyday life. Instead of easing the pain of their customers, they amplified it. In the process, families were destroyed, some took to the streets to fuel their addiction, many are in jail, and others are still in recovery attempting to unsuccessfully kick the habit.
DEA Report Tracks Opioid Distribution
According to reports released by the DEA, this small Virginia town received over 3.5 million opioids while a CVS situated on Main Street 1.3 million. Meanwhile, Norton, VA has a population of just under 4,000 people. Their story is not unique.
The DEA released evidence that opioid manufacturers targeted several such rural communities for the same purpose: Creating customers and addicts. Meanwhile, evidence mounts that these same manufacturers fought to keep this information from becoming public.
Meanwhile, the death toll is staggering. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died as a result of opioid-related overdoses and more have seen their families and their lives destroyed as a result.
Filing an Opioid-Related Injury Claim
Opioid injury claims are complex. However, the case is mostly there. We know that opioid companies targeted communities, lied to doctors, and otherwise failed to warn customers about the problems their product could cause. Furthermore, they downplayed the addictive effects of their drugs to the doctors who were prescribing them by claiming that drugs like Oxycontin were “less addictive” than their predecessors. That turned out to be untrue. As a result, doctors prescribed opioids by the millions creating addicts for companies. When conscientious doctors decided to stop writing prescriptions for them, these individuals took to the streets to fulfill their needs. They found street-grade heroin and fentanyl and many of them are now dead as a result. Since it was the opioid companies that manufactured the environment in which they became addicted, they are responsible for the deaths they caused.
The only way to prevent this from happening again is by hitting them where it hurts the most: Their wallets. These CEOs and companies didn’t care that they were destroying lives, they were checking their stock prices and their company accounts.
Talk to a Miami Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you or your family has been harmed by the opioid crisis, talk to Miami personal injury attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. We will help you recover damages related to your pain, suffering, and medical costs.
Resource:
washingtonpost.com/national/a-remote-virginia-valley-has-been-flooded-by-prescription-opioids/2019/07/18/387bb074-a8ca-11e9-9214-246e594de5d5_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.66a0ae0ebd2d
