New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Purdue Pharma, alleging the drugmaker engaged in deceptive marketing campaigns from the late 1990s through 2007 to promote the widespread use of opioid pain medicines, including OxyContin.
The state's 100-page lawsuit alleges Purdue aggressively marketed opioids as safe, effective and long-term treatments for chronic pain. The suit also alleges the drugmaker hid that it did not have studies to support the safety of opioid treatment for periods longer than 12 weeks.
"In a campaign of almost inconceivable callousness and irresponsibility, we allege that Purdue has spent hundreds of millions of marketing dollars to downplay the addiction risk associated with taking opioids for chronic pain, all the while exaggerating the benefits of using these dangerous drugs," Mr. Porrino said. "We allege that this fraudulent conduct has not only given false hope to many pain patients, it has led to addiction, overdose and death. It also has cost the state hundreds of millions on opioid prescriptions and the broader health and social effects of overprescribing. Many of these prescriptions never should have been written."
Purdue sales representatives in New Jersey were expected to reach 500 to 700 prescriptions for OxyContin each month, according to the lawsuit.
"We are deeply troubled by the opioid crisis and we are dedicated to being part of the solution," said Purdue in a statement emailed to Becker's. "As a company grounded in science, we must balance patient access to [Food and Drug Administration]-approved medicines, while working collaboratively to solve this public health challenge … We vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense."
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