TEXAS JOINS LAWSUITS AGAINST COMPANY ACCUSED OF WORSENING OPIOID EPIDEMIC

The National Institute of Drug Abuse reports opioids killed more than 1,300 Texans in 2016.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is bringing the state into a series of lawsuits against a pharmacy company accused of worsening the opioid epidemic.

Texas joins states such as Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina that are suing Purdue Pharma for misrepresenting the risks of opioid addiction. At a press conference May 15, Paxton announced that his office filed a consumer protection lawsuit in the Travis County District Court against the company for allegedly violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA).
​"My office is holding Purdue Pharma accountable for fueling the nation's opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing prescription painkillers including OxyContin when it knew their drugs were potentially dangerous and that its use had a high likelihood of leading to addiction," Paxton said. "As Purdue got rich from sales of its opioids, Texans and others across the nation were swept up in a public health crisis that led to tens of thousands of deaths each year due to opioid overdoses."

The National Institute of Drug Abuse reports opioids killed more than 1,300 Texans in 2016.