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Today, I went to Kermit, a small town along the Kentucky-West Virginia border that’s been hard-hit by the opioid epidemic — and not by accident. I’ll tell you why.
Over a period of just a few years, this town of only 400 people was flooded with approximately 13 million prescription opioid pills— that’s more than 30,000 pills per resident—all delivered to a single local pharmacy .
The companies shipping these pills repeatedly disregarded requirements to report suspicious patterns of behavior, and the state Board of Pharmacy failed to enforce its own rules. But Kermit is fighting back.
This small but mighty town filed a lawsuit against the pharmacy and five of the wholesale drug distributors who exacerbated the crisis. And it’s just one of many similar lawsuits lodged by towns, counties, and states across the country.
Here’s the truth: Fueling addiction is big business. The five companies being sued by Kermit earned $17 billion shipping prescription opioids to West Virginia during those few years, and their CEOs took home millions in bonuses and pay.
This crisis has been driven by greed, pure and simple, and it’s time to change that. I’ve got a plan to make these companies pay up to ensure every person gets the care they need. medium.com/@teamwarren/my…
