Portland officials may take Big Pharma to court over super-addictive synthetic opioids.
Early next month city officials will hear a staff presentation on a potential lawsuit against opioid manufacturers or distributors. Mayor Ethan Strimling says the effort might be similar to suits some cities have brought against gun manufacturers for harm their products cause.
He says one goal would be to limit opioid marketing.
“The second is to see if there are resources that can be recovered to help us confront the opioid crisis: it’s just brutal in the community,” Strimling says.
Several states and municipalities are considering such lawsuits. Strimling says the plan might be to join an existing suit. But he adds that the city will need to carefully review potential litigation costs.