Earlier this month, a lawsuit was filed in Cleveland, Ohio on behalf of Teamsters’ Health and Welfare Funds in West Virginia and Ohio to address concerns about how the opioid epidemic is affecting members, EHS Today reports.
The union says alleges a highly-coordinated effort in effect that promotes opioids to treat pain at the expense of Americans, including thousands of Teamster members, retirees, and family members. With the lawsuit, the union is targeting pharmacy benefit managers and a range of opioid drug manufacturers and distributors.
“The opioid crisis is devastating American families across the country particularly in communities where Teamsters work and live,” said Ken Hall, General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters whose Local Union’s health and welfare fund in the hard-hit state of West Virginia is among the plaintiffs.
These two states were chosen as West Virginia has suffered the highest opioid overdose death rate in the country. And in Ohio, which is home to 50,000 Teamster members, opioids are the main source of fatal drug overdoses.
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