Grande Prairie Files $10B Class Action Lawsuit Against Opioid Companies

A $10 billion class action lawsuit has been lodged by the Alberta town of Grande Prairie alleging that drug makers fueled the opioid epidemic disproportionately affecting their residents and costing taxpayers.

The City of Grande Prairie announced that it was considering joining a proposed opioid class action lawsuit in May. On Wednesday, Grande Prairie filed the class action lawsuit, alleging it and other municipalities had been “ravaged by the national opioid crisis.”

“This case arises from the worst man-made epidemic in modern medical history, the misuse, abuse, diversion and over-prescription of opioids,” states the opioids class action lawsuit.

In its proposed class action lawsuit, Grande Prairie pins the blame on opioid manufacturers, more than 40 drug makers and distributors the city says fueled the crisis through false advertising of the drugs. The defendants include companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Apotex, makers of opioid drugs, as well as distributors, including Shoppers Drug Mart and Jean Coutu.

Purdue Pharmaceuticals, a drug maker who is charged with making a share of opioid medication, including OxyContin, will be handled separately from this class action lawsuit, noted Guardian Law Group, the lawyers representing Grande Prairie and the proposed Class Members.

The complaint alleges that the defendant drug manufacturers and distributors instituted a massive marketing campaign that told consumers and the public that opioid medications were safe and not addictive.

“Defendants were selling and/or manufacturing dangerous drugs statutorily categorized as posing a high potential for abuse and severe dependence. Thus, defendants knowingly traded in drugs that presented a high degree of danger if prescribed incorrectly or diverted to other than legitimate medical, scientific, or industrial channels,” contends the opioid class action lawsuit.

Indeed, Grande Prairie claims that “safe” and “not addictive” were not its experience with opioid medications.

“Because of the severe level of danger posed by, and indeed visited upon the plaintiff’s community by these dangerous drugs, defendants owed a high duty of care to ensure that these drugs were used only for proper medical purposes,” states the opioid class action lawsuit. “Defendants chose profit over prudence and the safety of the community, and an award of punitive damages is appropriate as punishment and a deterrence.”

According to the complaint, Grande Prairie continues to see a rise in issues related to the opioid epidemic. The town has allegedly suffered 19 opioid related deaths in just the third quarter of 2019. Grande Prairie also offers a supervised drug site, which also saw a 30 percent spike in use, serving over 100 people in methadone treatment programs.

The city also points to an increase in homelessness and crime as an alleged result of opioid addictions felt in the community.

“There were 286 EMS responses to opioid related issues in [the third quarter] of 2019, taxing the city’s ambulances and fire services,” alleges the Grande Prairie opioid class action lawsuit. “The opioid crisis also indirectly affected the city’s budget by decreasing property values, decreasing productivity of its citizenry, and thereby eroding its tax base and income.”

The Grande Prairie opioid class action lawsuit proposes to represent similarly situated municipalities struggling with an opioid epidemic and related costs to the community, such as increased policing, emergency services, and drug treatment programs.

“By now, most Canadians have been affected, either directly or indirectly, by the opioid disaster. But few realize that this crisis arose from the opioid manufacturers’ deliberately deceptive marketing strategy to expand opioid use, together with the distributors’ equally deliberate efforts to evade restrictions on opioid distribution,” alleges the complaint. “Manufacturers and distributors alike acted without regard for the lives that would be trammeled in pursuit of profit.”

According to a report by the Calgary Herald, the complaint indicates that, in Canada, deaths from overdoses rose from 2,861 in 2016 to 3,996 in 2017.

CBC News reports that, in a press release issued after the proposed class action lawsuit was filed, the mayor stated, “Each one of us in Grande Prairie has been impacted in some form by the opioid crisis, and we can recognize the very real human cost the issue has. It also has a very real financial toll in the form of increased costs for local governments in areas ranging from policing and emergency response services, to social programs needed to address treatment and prevention and even into less expected operational areas such as parks and transit operations.”

Are you a resident of Grande Prairie? Have you or your loved ones been affected by the opioid epidemic? Tell us your story in the comment section below.

The City of Grande Prairie and proposed Class Members are represented by Guardian Law Group.

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