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SALT LAKE CITY — Three more counties and the counties' joint health department have joined others in Utah suing opioid manufacturers and distributors.
Uintah, Duchesne and Daggett Counties, along with the TriCounty Health Department, filed a joint lawsuit Thursday with a team of private law firms in a complaint filed in Utah's Eighth Judicial District Court.
The counties allege that the companies named in the lawsuit have created the opioid crisis through "misinformation, false claims and marketing, generated by the manufacturers and distributors of the drugs" since the 1990s.
Defendants listed in the lawsuit include Purdue Pharma L.P., Endo Pharmaceuticals, Allergan, Teva, Cephalon, Janssen and others that branded opioids including OxyContin, Percocet, and Fentora, as well as generic opioids.
Salt Lake, Summit, Tooele and Weber counties have already filed similar lawsuits, as has the Utah Attorney General's Office.
