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Torts Keyed to Epstein
City and County of San Francisco v. Purdue Pharma L.P.
Citation:
491 F. Supp. 3d 610 (N.D. Cal. 2020)Facts
The City and County of San Francisco filed suit against numerous pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, alleging they engaged in a coordinated campaign to expand the market for prescription opioids through misleading marketing about the risks and benefits of these drugs. San Francisco claimed the defendants downplayed addiction risks, overstated benefits for chronic pain, and failed to monitor suspicious orders, leading to widespread opioid addiction, overdoses, and deaths within the city. The municipality sought damages for public health costs, law enforcement expenses, and other financial burdens imposed by the opioid crisis. The defendants moved to dismiss, arguing that their FDA-approved medications and marketing were lawful, that prescribing decisions by doctors broke the causal chain, and that public nuisance law was being improperly expanded beyond its traditional scope.
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