CREST HAVEN – The County of Cape May filed a lawsuit in Superior Court July 5 against the leading pharmaceutical manufacturers related to the on-going opioid epidemic.
Part of the county’s contention is a misleading advertising campaign that began in the late 1990s and continues to convince physicians, patients, and others that the benefits outweigh the risks in using opioid medication. The lawsuit states that despite the companies knowing that long-term use can cause addiction, they misrepresented the dangers and attempted to minimize the known risks.
“Ever since I came into office I have been committed to fighting the problems that opioid use has brought into our county,” stated Freeholder Jeffrey Pierson, liaison to the Health Department, in a release. “We are looking at every avenue to take action, and this is the next step.”
The federal government estimates that daily more than 116 people in the nation die due to an overdose of opioids.
They also state that 11.5 million people had misused prescription opioids and 2.1 million had an opioid use disorder, based on 2016 data.
“We have seen the effects that opioids have had in our community,” stated Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton. “We are going after the source of the problem alongside the efforts we are making in our County to reduce addiction.”
At least 32 Cape May County residents suffered opioid-related overdose fatalities in 2016. The numbers for 2017 show 206 people in Cape May County overdosed and 33 of those died.
West Wildwood – I see Sweden has cancelled the proposed windmills off their shores. This follows the overwhelming majority of fellow West Wildwood residents who have denounced the plan to place windmills along the…
