In what may seem to be a jolt to the opioid drug manufacturing firms across the U.S., Arkansas’ attorney general has filed a legal suit against Johnson & Johnson, Endo International Plc, and Purdue Pharma LP. The litigation claims that all the three drug manufacturers promoted addictive painkillers, while denying the risk associated with its use. The legal suit has made Arkansas the 17^th U.S. state to file litigation against the opioid drug manufacturers amidst the ongoing addiction epidemic to the drugs across the country.

As per the litigation, these drug manufacturers spent a large amount of funds on advertising the drug benefits for treating chronic pain, while not disclosing the risks of addiction related to the drugs. Arkansas’ attorney general issued a statement claiming that these pharmaceutical giants have badly impacted the state and its residents. However, Purdue Pharma LP, a Pharma giant that manufactures OxyContin, refuted the accusations and has raised concerns over the illegal drug prescription along with the opioid drug crises. Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceutical unit, which manufactures the opioid Duragesic, has termed its promotional & branding activities as appropriate.

As per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, opioids were responsible for over 42,000 deaths in 2016 as a result of drug overdose. Though opioid drug prescription is aimed at treating acute pain, the addiction to these drugs has resulted in many legal suits being filed against the manufacturers in the U.S. Nearly 433 legal cases are pending before the U.S. District Judge in Cleveland.

In the beginning of this month, the U.S. Justice Department filing demanded thirty days for assessing the legal suit participation. It further claimed that the country has borne substantial expenditure due to the opioid epidemic. Moreover, lawyers of the petitioners have compared the potential costs of the current legal suits with the litigation filed by various states of the U.S. against the tobacco sector which led to a settlement in 1998.