The Navajo Nation filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against top opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies for “creating a market of highly addictive drugs and for failing to prevent the flow of illicit opioids in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.” The lawsuit is directed at Purdue Pharma L.P., Purdue Pharma Inc., Purdue Frederick Company, Endo Health Solutions Inc., McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., AmerisourceBergen Corporation, CVS Health Corporation, and Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.
“For generations, Native Americans have disproportionately suffered during health crises, and the opioid crisis is no different,” said Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye. “We aren’t going to sit back and let our community be torn apart while our children are suffering.”
Nation officials say that as a result of the opioid epidemic, Navajo citizens died from opioid overdoses, Navajo children were placed in non-native custody and the Navajo Nation suffered enormous financial losses.
“A generation of children are going to grow up without their parents, and, for far too many, outside of the Navajo Nation the loss of their family and their culture will have a negative impact on their lives and on the vitality of the Navajo Nation as a whole,” Vice President Jonathan Nez said.
In speaking about the lawsuit, Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch said that by bringing this action the Navajo Nation leads the way for all Native American tribes to hold opioid companies accountable.
“The Navajo Nation will not stand by and watch its people, its culture, and its heritage be destroyed by the scourge of the opioid epidemic,” said Branch.
Since bringing prescription opioids to the market, manufacturers have falsely represented the risks associated with using these drugs to treat chronic pain, which is in patent violation of their legal responsibilities and fuels the opioid epidemic.
The Nation claims that pharmacies and opioid distributors have ignored their responsibilities under federal law to investigate and to alert regulators about suspicious orders and illegitimate prescriptions. Because suspicious orders are not reported on, highly dangerous controlled substances are easily diverted into the hands of unauthorized users and into the illegal black market.