New York on Tuesday sued the maker of OxyContin for allegedly duping patients and doctors about the dangers of its drugs — which officials say fueled the opioid crisis as the company raked in billions.
State Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed the lawsuit against Purdue Pharma in Suffolk County state Supreme Court, seeking to force the drugmaker to pay penalties and cough up cash to fund treatment for addicts and education programs “to remedy the harms it caused.”
“Our investigation found a pattern of deception and reckless disregard for New Yorkers’ health and wellbeing — as Purdue lined its own pockets by deliberately exploiting our communities and fueling an opioid epidemic that’s destroyed families across the state,” Underwood said in a statement.
The suit alleges that Purdue hoodwinked doctors, users and authorities over how addictive and effective Oxy could be — representing it as “potentially less subject to abuse than other opioids when it was aware that the opposite was likely true” — through a billion-dollar marketing push.
“The opioid epidemic was manufactured by unscrupulous distributors who developed a $400 billion industry pumping human misery into our communities,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.
“This lawsuit sends a clear message all these who mislead the public to increase their profit margins that we will hold you accountable for your actions.”
The suit comes three months after Underwood first announced her intention to sue the pharma giant, joining several other states that have already targeted Purdue for its alleged role in the epidemic that saw more than 3,000 New Yorkers die of opioid overdoses in 2016.
New York City filed a $500 million suit against Purdue and other big drugmakers over their role in the crisis in January.
In a statement, Purdue said it “vigorously” denies the allegations laid out in the state’s suit.
“The state claims Purdue acted improperly by communicating with prescribers about scientific and medical information that FDA has expressly considered and continues to approve. We believe it is inappropriate for the state to substitute its judgment for the judgment of the regulatory, scientific and medical experts at FDA,” the statement reads.