OxyContin Manufacturer Challenges Lawsuit

A major pharmaceutical company is challenging a lawsuit that claims that their company used deceptive practices to market its products in Wyoming.
Purdue Pharma, the creator of the opioid drug OxyContin, has asked a Wyoming judge to dismiss the State’s lawsuit, claiming that the federal Food and Drug Administration’s previous findings invalidate the state’s legal challenge.
The Casper Star Tribune reports that in October, Wyoming’s Attorney General’s Office announced it had filed suit against the drug company most publicly associated with the opioid crisis. The state claims that Purdue, quote, “overstated the benefits of chronic opioid treatment while downplaying its serious risks.”
In response, Purdue alleges that the Food and Drug Administration had approved the use of opioids for treating chronic pain. Their lawyers allege that Wyoming is attempting to undermine the FDA’s authority.
The suit claims that OxyContin sales here jumped 800 percent between 1998 and 2004, and again increased 700 percent from 2006 to 2016; and further alleges that the company used sales calls, lunches and promotional tools to make Wyoming physicians more comfortable with prescribing the drug and Wyoming residents more likely to be aware of and interested in OxyContin.
State Attorney General Peter Michael says that his office is working with other states to investigate opioid manufacturers.