By Lori Kersey, Charleston Gazette-Mail
The state of West Virginia on Thursday filed suit against drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced.
The lawsuit, filed in Boone County Circuit Court, alleges that the drug company violated the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act by making “a series of misleading safety, comparative, and benefit claims about its opioid products and unfairly targeting vulnerable populations such as the elderly.”
The company advanced a deceptive narrative that its opioid products were safer than they were and that competitors’ products were more dangerous or less effective than they were, the lawsuit alleges. The company’s actions helped create a public nuisance in West Virginia by interfering with the commercial marketplace and endangering residents’ life and health, the suit states.
The state joins Iowa, Kansas, Maryland and Wisconsin in filing separate lawsuits against the drug company, alleging the company’s marketing of opioids contributed to the substance abuse epidemic. …
