According to a newspaper report, manufacturers of analgesics in the US could face further legal trouble. The judicial authorities are investigating whether manufacturers and distributors of addictive opioids have violated the nationwide addiction law "Controlled Substances Act". The Wall Street Journal wrote on Tuesday, citing insiders. The investigation is still at the beginning.
Actually, the law primarily serves to prosecute drug dealers and illegal networks for trading in prohibited narcotics. Its application would spell an escalation in action against companies that allegedly contributed to drug dependence painkillers in the US.
Investors reacted accordingly nervously: The shares of the affected pharmaceutical companies and drug traders Teva, Mallinckrodt, AmerisourceBergen, Amneal, McKesson and Johnson & Johnson - against which the investigation is to be directed - came in part massive pressure. The companies are already confronted with a lawsuit because of their role in the opioid crisis.
Number of dead is declining - but remains at a high level
The pharmaceutical companies are accused of having contributed with their products to the painkiller epidemic, which led in recent years, according to US authorities to hundreds of thousands of deaths from overdoses.
States, cities, and counties are demanding billions of dollars from companies to spend on opioid addiction and overdose.
In the US, over 400,000 people have died of an overdose in recent years. In 2018, the number of drug-related deaths in the United States had dropped for the first time in two decades. According to US health authorities, around 68,600 people died of an overdose in 2018, and in 2017 there were approximately 72,200 deaths. In particular, the company Purdue Pharma - known as the manufacturer of the infamous painkiller Oxycontin - was advised because of the addiction problem in the criticism.