Attorneys on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against 24 drugmakers and drug distributors for the companies' alleged roles in facilitating the opioid epidemic within the tribe's reservation, according to a report from the StarTribune.
The 102-page complaint filed in a North Dakota U.S. District Court alleges the companies fraudulently marketed opioids by minimizing the drugs' addiction risk. The suit also alleges the companies did not comply with federal drug laws designed to prevent the diversion of opioids.
"The opioid epidemic has hit Indian Country hard and the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation is no exception," said Tim Purdon, a former U.S. attorney for North Dakota and a member of the legal team representing the tribe.
While drug overdose deaths among all Americans increased by 200 percent between 1999 and 2015, the overdose death rate among Native Americans increased 500 percent, according to the lawsuit.
Among the lawsuit's defendants are drug distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen. Healthcare Distribution Alliance — a national organization of wholesale drug distributors, which represents the distributors named in the suit — described the legal action as misdirected, according to the StarTribune.
"The misuse and abuse of prescription opioids is a complex public health challenge that requires a collaborative and systemic response that engages all stakeholders," John Parker, senior vice president of communications for the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, said in a statement obtained by the StarTribune. "Given our role, the idea that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and is regulated. Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation."
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