Pharmaceutical companies are currently facing thousands of lawsuits across the country for the role they’ve played in the ongoing opioid crisis. The pain this epidemic has caused is incalculable. All over the United States, individuals and families are desperately trying to get their loved ones the help they need. In some cases, those loved ones have been lost and are never coming back. Communities are having to spend funds desperately needed elsewhere on treatment and prevention programs. Fears Nachawati has seen this devastation close up and is currently fighting to bring victims of the opioid crisis some relief.
In recent weeks, it’s been reported that the involved parties may be close to a global settlement. As attorneys, we have an ethical and moral obligation to advocate on behalf of our clients. In this litigation, and in this crisis, the voices of the individuals and the communities most directly harmed by the Opioid Epidemic are seldom heard, and proposed solutions tend to cater more to the pharmaceutical industry rather than those who have been affected the most.
Fears Nachawati’s clients consist overwhelmingly of public entities across the country who feel the effects of this epidemic every day. They’re watching as their local resources deplete due to the needs for increased policing and emergency services, short-term failing rehabilitation programs ill-equipped to handle opioid addiction, the continuing losses to the workforce, and most important in the everyday struggles of their friends, neighbors, and family dealing with death and addiction. Suffice it to say, this litigation involves unprecedented complexities of the type this country has never seen. The way in which a community in New Mexico recovers is substantially different than that of a rural community in North Dakota. The solution cannot be one-size-fits-all. This is an example of the challenges that must be overcome.
While we commend the efforts to reach a settlement that will expediently bring resources back to our communities, we hope that all sides will strive to meet the needs of those who need it most, both in terms of the size of any such settlement, but also in terms of loudly and clearly stating our cause and our harm.