Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Sues Opioid Manufacturers

The Saint Regis Mohawk Native American tribe filed a lawsuit against 16 manufacturers of opioids, including Purdue, Endo and Johnson & Johnson.

The tribe, which has been at the center of ongoing litigation regarding its deal with Allergan to take ownership of some of the company’s patents, claimed the drugmakers’ products have ravaged the community near the Canadian border.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of a scheme to wrongly convince doctors and patients that their products were safe and non-addictive. Tribal leaders claimed most of the tribe’s child welfare cases were linked to opioid abuse or addiction.