Milwaukee County is considering a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies and distributors blaming them for the rise in opioid addiction. The argument will be that the drug companies profited from the painkillers prescribed to people that later turned into heroin addicts that either died from an overdose, required medical treatment for overdoses, or ended up in jail or prison for crimes committed in the pursuit of money to buy drugs.
The argument in these lawsuits is that the makers of painkillers downplayed their potential for addiction–while marketing them to doctors and patients. It mirrors the lawsuits that were filed against tobacco companies accusing them of downplaying the risk of cancer and promoting cigarettes and smokeless products to an “unwitting public”. The issue that I have with such suits–and the huge judgments usually awarded by sympathetic juries–is that they are based on the assumption that if people know something is risky or bad for them, they will automatically not want to use it.
In the case of cigarettes, warning labels first went on their packaging in 1966. What effect did that have on smoking rates in the US? Did anyone in your family ever talk about the first time they saw that warning and immediately gave up tobacco use? As I recall, smokers were everywhere in the 70’s. Why? Because people didn’t care. They thought smoking helped keep them thin, or it helped to keep them awake, or it made them look cool. Warnings did little to curb demand.
And the same holds true for prescription painkillers. Doctors could tell patients “If I prescribe this for you, you will end up becoming addicted, switching to heroin after the prescription runs out, you will steal from your family and employer to buy more drugs and you will likely end up dead in your car parked behind some abandoned building” and the first thing the patient will say is “But I won’t feel my back pain, right?”
America’s opioid epidemic is not the result of a slick marketing campaign or alleged cover up of scientific studies. It is the end result of our societal belief that we should not have to deal with any discomfort in our lives. Painkillers–like erectile dysfunction medications and drops for chronic dry eye–are products of public demand. If everybody wasn’t demanding to not wake up with soreness in their back or knees painkiller addiction would be a minor issue. And we wouldn’t have TV ads for products that “cure opioid induced constipation”. But, because those responsible for their own situation don’t want to be held responsible, elected officials are more than willing to try and prove it’s someone else’s fault.
