FOUR WINDS TRIBE LOUISIANA CHEROKEE TAKE COURT ACTION AGAINST OPIOID MANUFACTURERS AND DISTRIBUTORS

The Four Winds Tribe Louisiana Cherokee, through its attorneys at Porteous, Hainkel and Johnson, LLP and the Winch Law Firm, L.L.C., filed a lawsuit this week against America’s pharmaceutical industry for knowingly mislabeling and misrepresenting opiate-based drugs and creating a spiraling addiction crisis across the nation, said Attorney Ralph Alexis. 

The Four Winds lawsuit is the most recent filed by a Tribal Government and joins more than 100 pending suits by other Tribes. The filing underscores the nationwide show of Tribal solidarity in stepping forward and taking necessary legal action to end the opioid epidemic plaguing Native American Tribal populations, according to Mr. Alexis.

There are currently more than 2000 lawsuits filed across the nation against the opioid manufacturers and distributors, many of which have been aggregated in a Multi-District Litigation proceeding in Cleveland, Ohio, before U.S. District Judge Dan Polster. The lawsuits also focus on the distributors’ violation of the Controlled Substances Act by their failing to report unusual patterns associated with certain opioid purchases and use. 

The Louisiana Tribe’s attorneys point to the fact that there have been on-the-record admissions of wrongdoing by some of the defendant manufacturers and distributors of opioids. 

Porteous, Hainkel and Johnson and the Winch Law Firm are part of a national leadership team of attorneys and medical experts called the Opioid Justice Team, which has filed a number of lawsuits, including class actions, on behalf of parishes, cities, non-profit health providers, hospitals, drug rehab centers, opioid-dependent and exposed babies, and Native American Tribes, all of which have borne extensive unreimbursed costs caused by the opioid epidemic.

The team alleges that civil lawsuits brought against the pharmaceutical drug manufacturers, opioid drug distributors and/or wholesalers, are the only way to remedy the prescription opioid drug epidemic.

“The documented facts show that pharmaceutical manufacturers deceptively marketed their opioid products by exaggerating the benefits of opioids and byintentionally downplayingthe extremely addictive nature of opioids,” said co-counsel Ralph Alexis of Porteous, Hainkel and Johnson. “And it is well established that the Opioid Crisis has disproportionately affected Native Americans,” said co-counsel Justin Winch of the Winch Law Firm.

The suit seeks to create long-term solutions to help deal with the medical, social and legal issues related to the epidemic.
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For more information contact: Ralph Alexis, [email protected], (504) 581-3838 or Justin Winch, [email protected], (504) 214-3400.