Purdue settlement for starters. This is an evolving situation, that will likely affect most drug companies. Big dollars involved, but who gets them? This may answer some of the pieces of the puzzle... But the question goes around the block. Where do the actual dollars go. Settlements come from the courts... the money comes from the drug companies. How much goes to the people who were affected. Parents of the kids whose lives were destroyed? Persons who had to be hospitalized or who paid for rehab? The dollars will be real... the question is who gets those dollars? Maybe??? the dollars go to the politicians or the states . After all, wasn't addiction totally the fault of the person who paid for or died from their addiction?
A little followup... some info on class action suits... the Google search results that show nearly 10 million hits. Google site ...and if a person wanted to participate, how much would it cost, and how long before any of these lawsuits would be adjudicated? Here's a hint of where the money goes
I can't imagine suing a company because their product caused me to drink, smoke or pop pills to excess. I realize addiction is considered a disease. This enables rehab facilities to soak the insurance industry. I don't have it , so I don't understand it. Many times, I think it's an excuse for no willpower and a lack of discipline. I'm not a cold hearted person, I just don't get it. If someone can enjoy getting high so much to choose that over the welfare of their children, I don't think they deserve a financial settlement to end up enabling them to continue their habits.
@Bess Barber Agreed, and understood! But solved? Not too much. It has been proposed, and even implemented, that: Severe addiction be augmented by government, to reduce deaths and serious illness due to bad street drugs, augmented to the extent that if overdosing is desired, let them do it. Involuntary sterilization be implemented among the severely addicted. Bad idea. Immoral, and what about the children they already have? Frank
One factor that I detest is that there are some physicians who will “accidentally” get their patients hooked on an opiate and then cut them off. My wife posted in another thread about a friend of hers who was prescribed a pain medication for an injury. She was apparently on the drug for a lengthy period of time and when it was proven that she was addicted, she was cut off cold turkey. Because of the addiction she lost her kids and husband and if it wasn’t for my wife, she wouldn’t have had a place to live. She went to N/A religiously but something happened and at some point she was found along side of a major highway, half stripped and dead. Now, who is responsible? The physician? Pharma? The court that put her on the street? Certainly, she played a part in her own demise but who led her to the point of no return?
The link in my post above explained where the money went. In case you missed it... https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/el...te-ags-while-negotiating-settlements-n1050671 That answered the question about where the money went. The people who became addicted and didn't die, but paid to live, won't get a penny. How did they get the drugs in the first place? Sold on Amazon? Or???