In what is shaping up as a national trend, yet another local government has filed a lawsuit accusing several drug makers of spreading the opioid epidemic by deliberately downplaying risks and improperly encouraging prescribing of the addictive painkillers. And the latest to do so is Erie County, N.Y., in the western-most corner of the state, which includes the city of Buffalo.
The lawsuit alleged that four companies — Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Endo International — caused the county government to spend millions of dollars each year in its efforts to combat the epidemic. The lawsuit, which was filed in state court in New York, also named four physicians, who purportedly assisted the drug makers.
“These drug makers and their enablers in the medical community were aware of the significant dangers posed by opioid prescription medications, yet that did not stop them from continuing to push opioids and get even more people hooked on them,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz in a statement. “Their greedy, soulless drive for ever-expanding profits is destroying our society and we must take steps to reduce the damages and fix this problem.”
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I do not understand the urgency of a project that holds so little promise of fulfilling people’s expectations of it. From everything I’ve read except the opinions of the persuaded, this has all the earmarks of a budgetary, governmental and traffic laugher. Cannot even imagine the chaos during construction! Good luck with it though – apparently it fulfills some destiny or other. And what an adorable little fake-Interstate logo.
(obviously) submitted in error – sorry.