3 of America's biggest pharmacy chains have been found liable for the opioid crisis

[AZProgressive]

A federal jury on Tuesday found three of the nation's biggest pharmacy chains, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, liable for helping to fuel the U.S. opioid crisis — a decision that's expected to have legal repercussions as thousands of similar lawsuits move forward in courts across the country.

Jurors concluded that the pharmacies contributed to a so-called public nuisance in Lake and Trumbull counties in Ohio by selling and dispensing huge quantities of prescription pain pills.

Some of those medications initially purchased legally wound up being sold on the black market.

Tuesday's verdict is expected to resonate nationally, as the three chains face thousands of similar lawsuits filed by U.S. communities grappling with the opioid crisis.

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/23/1058539458/a-jury-in-ohio-says-americas-big-pharmacy-chains-are-liable-for-the-opioid-epide?utm_term=nprnews&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=npr

[captain queeg]

1. This is interesting and will no doubt lead to reactions and some unintended consequences

These counties are close to where I grew up. I haven’t lived there in a long time, but still have relatives in the area. And I know there’s a good bit of drug abuse there. So these places were filling massive amounts of prescriptions. From their view point they were just following the rules, filling scrips that appeared legal. Maybe they weren’t, maybe bogus. It seems more like it’s the doctors who write the scrips. But I know the drug companies worked pretty hard to convince medical people that these narcotics were relatively safe. I can remember hearing years ago from providers the your body reacted differently to narcotics if you were really in pain. Kind of sounds believable to someone who has never been in chronic pain or taken narcotics for an extended time.

So there needs to be some changes but I fear for the backlash. As someone who developed a habit years ago, I think it was too easy to get them and rely on them. As someone who more recently was in severe pain for months I worry that these types of drugs will be held back from those who need them. I’m fortunate that I haven’t needed the strong pain meds for years, but I’d certainly want them available if and when I need them

[Kablooie]

2. If they just filled verified prescriptions, I don't see how they were responsible.

I suppose if they regularly filled shady scripts knowingly, they could be.