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Opioid Manufacturers Sue ‘Black Market’ Drug Distributors

July 26, 2018

Two drugmakers targeted in a lawsuit over Tennessee’s opioid epidemic filed a third-party complaint against online “black market” drug distributors, alleging they’re responsible for the state’s opioid crisis.

Endo Pharmaceuticals and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals filed the complaint in Kingsport Circuit Court, launching a counterattack against a June lawsuit brought by three Tennessee district attorneys general. That suit alleged that Endo, Mallinckrodt and other pharmaceutical companies knew their opioid products were being diverted to the illegal market and chose to profit instead of taking action to stop it, “[spending] years engaged in a fraudulent scheme to push their wares into a market of unsuspecting doctors and patients.”

Endo and Mallinckrodt’s complaint alleges that, contrary to the plaintiffs’ charges, studies show the opioid epidemic has been fueled by “a network of unregulated, illegal, and unfortunately long-ignored actors.” Specifically, they claim that the owners of 12 websites/networks, nine drug dealers and multiple pill mill operators should be held liable for any damages Endo or Mallinckrodt would have to pay as a result of the lawsuit.

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