A proposed $ 150 million settlement has been reached with Purdue Pharma Canada covering all provinces and territories to recoup the health care costs associated with the sale and marketing of opioid-based painkillers. British Columbia Attorney General David Abby said Wednesday that it is the largest settlement of a government health care claim in Canadian history. The county launched a class action lawsuit in 2018 against more than 40 pharmaceutical companies from all federal, state and territorial governments to recover health care costs for the “illegal behavior of opioid manufacturers, distributors and distributors.” ” Abby said the proposed arrangement has been accepted by governments across Canada and is working on a plan to determine how the money will be distributed, based on the impact in each province. “The money will be used to support provincial programs to combat the opioid epidemic that we believe Purdue’s actions have contributed through misleading marketing,” he said. Matthew Herder, director of the Dalhousie University Law Institute of Health in Halifax, said the funds could help fight the overdose crisis, but “it all depends on how it is used.” “To make sure it really helps, people who are still experiencing the effects of the opioid overdose crisis, who have real know-how on how to reduce its ongoing harm – people who use drugs – should be central to taking decisions forward, “he said in an email. Dr Michael Curry, a clinical associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of British Columbia, said he did not believe the settlement was large enough to help anyone affected by the drugs. “It’s a very small amount of money, especially considering that BC will probably get, proportionally, maybe 12 percent of the settlement,” he said in an interview. More than 27,000 people died across the country from toxic street drugs between 2016 and September 2021. “We took this action to recoup the cost of healthcare and hold opioid companies accountable for their role in allegedly engaging in misleading marketing tactics to increase sales, which has led to increased rates of addiction and overdose.” said Abby in a press conference. He said the BC government was “committed to aggressively pursuing litigation against other manufacturers and distributors who put profits above people”. The cost of the opioid epidemic in provincial health care systems is “probably in the billions of dollars,” Abby said. “In the United States, the claims amount to trillions of dollars and have led to the bankruptcy of the Purdue arm in the United States.” He said Canada was facing the possibility of being grouped into a number of unsecured creditors as part of the US bankruptcy process, where the amount available to the entire group is just $ 15 million. The BC sanctions allowed Canadian jurisdictions to prevent Purdue from liquidating its Canadian operations to pay U.S. claims that would have left nothing in Canada after the US bankruptcy process, he said. “So in that sense, it’s a remarkable achievement for British Columbia and all the provinces of Canada to ensure that Canadians see some revenue from Purdue’s misleading marketing.” In the United States, more than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed by governments, unions, hospitals and other entities in an effort to hold pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies and distributors accountable for their role in the opioid crisis. U.S. companies, especially those that sold or manufactured drugs, have already faced settlements, court rulings and civil and criminal sanctions totaling more than $ 47 billion. British Columbia Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Sila Malcolmson called the settlement “an important step forward” in trying to end the province’s emergency drug toxicity. “We know that the settlement will not make up for lost lives, the terrible loss of loved ones in our communities, so our government remains firm in its commitment to ending the public health emergency,” he said. Mike Ellis, Alberta’s deputy minister of addiction, said in a press release that the county supported the proposed settlement. “Like the rest of Canada, Alberta is in the midst of an addiction crisis. “The roots of the crisis began years ago with the high percentage of opioid prescriptions for acute and chronic pain,” he said. “We are committed to ensuring that part of the Alberta settlement is reinvested in funding more mental health and detoxification services.” Eby said there are many manufacturers, distributors and their consultants who remain named in the lawsuit. “And they know from this arrangement that we will pursue them aggressively.” Health Canada said the federal government was investigating “all appropriate options to hold companies responsible for (their) role in the overdose crisis if they acted improperly in opioid marketing and distribution.” To restrict the marketing of opioids to healthcare professionals, all opioid advertising material must be inspected by an advertising agency before it can be used. “From June 2019, all promotional materials must follow exactly what is included in the product monograph. “Health Canada also identifies non-compliant marketing practices and enforces the laws as they exist today,” Health Canada said in a written statement. British Columbia’s application for certification of its class action is scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court of BC. in the fall of 2023. The county said the certification could open the door to further settlements to recoup health care costs. This Canadian Press report was first published on June 29, 2022.
