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 US Gerichtsurteil zu Opioiden infographic
Grafik zeigt den Anstieg der US Toten nach Einnahme von verschriebenen Überdosen an Opioiden.
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GESUNDHEIT

Richtungsweisendes US Opioid Gerichtsurteil

By Duncan Mil

August 27, 2019 - Der pharmazeutische Riese Johnson & Johnson wurde zu $572 Millionen Zahlung für seinen Anteil an der steigenden Opioid Epidemie im Bundesstaat Oklahoma verurteilt. Johnson & Johnson wollen gegen das Urteil Einspruch erheben.

The case, filed by Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, is the first of some 2,500 lawsuits to go to trial against two dozen opioid manufacturers, drug distributors and retailers across the U.S. for their roles in the opioid crisis.

The plaintiffs allege that drug companies deceptively promoted the benefits of using opioids to treat chronic pain while downplaying addiction risks.

Oklahoma sued two other drug manufacturers, Purdue Pharma and Teva Pharmaceuticals, in addition to Johnson & Johnson. But they both settled with the state earlier this year -- Purdue for $270 million, Teva for $85 million -- without admitting wrongdoing.

In 1996, a new synthetic opioid, a form of oxycodone called OxyContin, came on the market to help relieve chronic pain. Its maker, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, claimed OxyContin’s slow-release formulation would make it less addictive than ordinary oxycodone.

Since 1999, more than 217,500 people have died in the U.S. from overdoses involving prescription opioids. Latest figures from the National Institute on Drug Abuse estimate that more than nine million Americans abused opioids in 2018 and that around 125 Americans die by opioid overdose every day.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 27/08/2019; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Associated Press
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