The government of British Columbia is embarking on a prolonged legal endeavor in an attempt to hold opioid manufacturers accountable for the ongoing opioid overdose crisis. One such lawsuit costs an estimated $75 million to $100 million and has been ongoing for over a decade, while another, initiated in 1998 to recover health-care costs from tobacco companies, has been ongoing for 25 years and is still unresolved. Now, the government is seeking to recover health-care costs related to the opioid epidemic from Big Pharma and its marketing agents, with the possibility of a class-action lawsuit encompassing all Canadian jurisdictions.
The provinces have reached a settlement with Purdue Pharma for $150 million, which, when divided amongst all jurisdictions, may not be worth the legal efforts invested in the case. Furthermore, some pharmaceutical companies have launched a constitutional challenge to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the recovery of costs on behalf of other provinces, which will entail additional legal expenses.
The pharmaceutical groups aggressively marketed opioid pills to doctors in the late 1990s, leading to the approval of the addictive opioid Oxycontin by Health Canada in 1996. Despite the aggressive marketing tactics, doctors bear responsibility for the appropriate prescription and monitoring of opioid use, and it is the toxicity of illegal fentanyl, not prescription pills, that is driving the surge in opioid deaths.
In light of these legal efforts, the current safe supply initiatives in British Columbia, which provide large numbers of free, highly addictive hydromorphone pills to opiate users, raise questions about the government’s complicity in creating new and younger opioid addicts. This practice is reminiscent of the reasons behind the government’s lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies.
Overall, the government’s pursuit of legal action against pharmaceutical companies may result in increased costs for Canadian governments, hospitals, and patients for prescription drugs, alongside allegations that the government is itself contributing to the creation of new opioid addicts through its safe supply initiatives.