fbpx
We hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for opioid-induced illness.

Opioids

Holding opioid manufacturers and distributors responsible for harm to unsuspecting patients and parents

Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel has been representing people injured by dangerous products and prescription drugs for over 20 years. For example, it is the only plaintiffs’ firm to obtain a verdict against the pharmaceutical manufacturer in a PPA (phenlypropanolamine)/stroke case. Our firm has now turned its sights on irresponsible manufacturers and distributors of opioids like OxyContin, Norco, Vicodin, and Fentanyl because those manufacturers and distributors mislead the public and regulators about the proper use and hazards of those highly-addictive drugs, all in the name of profits.

Made from the poppy plant or synthesized in the lab, opioids are a wide-ranging group of pain management medications that are highly addictive. Therefore, the medical standard of care had been to limit their use to patients with acute or traumatic injuries, or to patients with terminal cancer. That ended when the manufacturers, realizing that there was a huge untapped market in patients with long-term, chronic pain, launched a misleading campaign to convince doctors and regulators that those highly-addictive drugs were safe and effective for long-term use. Articles backed by the drug makers and published in medical journals as well as pharmaceutical commercials pushed the drugs as effective over the long-term—something that has not been proved to this day— while downplaying the dangerous side effects, including addiction, overdose, and death. Complicating matters further, most primary care providers have not been trained to identify addiction or withdrawal symptoms, and have been hoodwinked by industry-sponsored “medical” articles counseling them that patients who appear to be addicted are actually suffering from “pseudoaddiction,” the remedy for which is a higher dose of opioids!

That misleading marketing campaign continues to this day, and has caused an opioid epidemic unparalleled in U.S. history, an epidemic that is not only responsible for a tide of addiction, but for a documented decrease in American life spans. That epidemic is also straining public services, damaging local economies, and harming whole families.

Women who become pregnant while taking opioid medication will often remain on opioids through a maintenance therapy program for the duration of pregnancy, never warned that this opioid regimen can harm their baby. As a result, the babies are born sedated and addicted, a condition known as (Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or “NAS”). Hospitals have seen an increase in NAS babies, whose treatment is painful for the babies as they go through monitored withdrawal in the hospital, and expensive for the hospital, families, and public/private insurance carriers.

Opioid use while pregnant may also cause birth defects. Treatment of pregnant women with opioid medications is linked to specific birth defects including spina bifida, hydrocephaly, glaucoma, gastroschisis, and congenital heart defects.

How Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel can help

At Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel we have seen first-hand the heartbreak and financial challenges of families facing catastrophic prescription drug injury. We have represented families with children suffering from birth defects linked to popular prescription antidepressants and children who have endured life-threatening skin diseases resulting from antibiotics and NSAIDs. With a national presence and a wealth of experience, our firm has the resources to bring your case in any court in the country. To have one of our attorneys review your potential opioid case and file a claim, email us or call 800.226.9880.

Opioids and Opiates

  • Oxycodone
    • Endocet
    • Oxecta
    • OxyContin
    • Percocet
    • Roxicet
    • Roxicodone
    • Targiniq ER
  • Oxymorphone
    • Opana
  • Fentanyl
    • Actiq
    • Duragesic
  • Fentora
  • Subsys
  • Hydrocodone
    • Hysingla ER
    • Lorcet
    • Norco
    • Vicodin
    • Zohydro ER
  • Meperidine
    • Demero
  • Buprenorphine
    • Suboxone
    • Butrans
    • Subutex

5 Fast Zostavax Facts: What You Should Know About the Harmful Shingles Booster

February 9, 2022 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates 1 million or more shingles cases occur each year in the U.S. alone. People of any age are at risk for developing shingles and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), but the risk increases as we...

Babies Born Addicted to Opioids Cost U.S. Over $500 Million per Year

January 12, 2022 In the year preceding the onset of the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, the opioid epidemic led the headlines. Studies were conducted, opioid lawsuits were filed, and new regulations aimed at holding drug manufacturers and prescribers responsible for the havoc the...

Our Results

$880 million award

Historic settlement for over 1,300 survivors of clergy and adult abuse within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, marking a pivotal moment for justice.

READ THE DETAILS

$725.5 million award

A Philadelphia jury awarded a record verdict against ExxonMobil for failing to warn about cancer risks due to benzene in its petroleum products.

READ THE DETAILS

$20 million award

Confidential settlement for the wife of a Rhode Island man who died of mesothelioma cancer after exposure to window glazing compound contaminated with asbestos.

READ THE DETAILS