Big Pharma's Tobacco Moment as Star Lawyers Push Opioid Suits
- List of states could reach critical mass for settlement
- Plaintiffs lawyers dust off 20-year-old tobacco strategy
Fifth Third Bank Chief Investment Strategist Jeff Korzenik discusses the economic impact of opioid addiction and how it affects the labor market. He speaks with Scarlet Fu and Julia Chatterley on “Bloomberg Markets.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Big Pharma is having a Big Tobacco moment as litigation over opioids attract star lawyers and a growing list of states and local governments seeking their own multibillion-dollar payout to deal with costs of a burgeoning drug epidemic.
On Tuesday, South Carolina became the sixth state to sue opioid makers alleging they have created a public health crisis. The suit filed by Joe Rice, a plaintiff lawyer who helped negotiate a $246 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998, suggests states are laying the groundwork to force a resolution that provides billions of dollars to cover the costs of an epidemic blamed for 62 deaths per day.