HARRISBURG (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - On May 2, 2019 Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro sued the pharmaceutical giant responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania.
On Tuesday he announced that company is, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, the creator of the prescription painkiller OxyContin.
Shapiro says Purdue did this when the company, “downplayed the danger of addiction while pressuring doctors to commit to prescribing more opioids. Their relentless campaign of disinformation propelled the opioid crisis to the public health emergency it is today. “
BREAKING: I filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma for deceptively marketing opioids. They targeted vulnerable popns—seniors, veterans—using a legion of drug reps who made 500k visits to docs to push these highly addictive pills. Now we’re seeking to recover for all PA has lost. pic.twitter.com/aDICk3MzNt
— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA)
May 14, 2019 The lawsuit has many goals, including asking the court to order Purdue to pay civil penalties in the amount of $1,000 for each violation of the consumer protection law.
And that will increase to $3,000 for each violation involving a victim 60 or older.
Pennsylvania is the 39th state to sue the company.
