Originally published on Kansas.com. Read the full story here.
DECEMBER 22, 2017 03:49 PM
Seeking to recoup millions of dollars of public costs of opioid addiction, Sedgwick County sued some of the nation’s biggest drug companies Thursday, accusing them of fraud, conspiracy and racketeering on prescription painkillers such as Lortab, OxyContin and fentanyl.
The lawsuit targets manufacturers and distributors of a wide menu of drugs, all of which are derived from opium poppies, the same active ingredient in street heroin.
According to a database run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were as many prescriptions written for opioid drugs in Sedgwick County in 2016 as there are people living here, the lawsuit alleges.
