City May Sue Opioid Manufacturers
Murphy wants city attorney to consider suit for damages from opioid epidemic.
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Pills by Tom Varco (Own work) (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
The Milwaukee Common Council will consider a resolution next week to have the city attorney investigate litigation possibilities and potentially file lawsuits against drug companies and manufactures who they believe are responsible for damages brought on by the epidemic. Money from the lawsuits would be used to recover the cost of battling the epidemic.
Alderman Michael Murphy, sponsor of the council resolution, said “addiction has been a costly plague for the city.”
“Any recovery of damages that we may get would be used toward the prevention, education and services to help people stay off or never get on these very addictive drugs,” Murphy said.
Wisconsin and several other municipalities and counties across the state have already filed similar lawsuits.
“Thousands of governmental entities throughout the United States are filing lawsuits against those companies and distributors engaged in marketing prescription opioids,” Murphy said.
Murphy is also the co-chair of Milwaukee’s City-County Heroin, Opioid and Cocaine Task Force. The task force recommended the resolution be brought to the common council.
“We’ve examined the cost to our city services, the impact on people’s health and impact of the bottom line of the tax base as a result of the terrible epidemic of opioid addiction in our community,” Murphy said.
Listen to the WPR report here.
Milwaukee Wants To Recover Opioid Epidemic Costs From Drug Companies was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
More about the Opioid Crisis
- Attorney General Kaul Announces Consent Judgment with Kroger Over Opioid Crisis - Wisconsin Department of Justice - Mar 21st, 2025
- Baldwin Votes to Strengthen Penalties, Step Up Enforcement Around Deadly Fentanyl - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - Mar 17th, 2025
- Wisconsin Communities Get Millions From Opioid Settlement as Deaths Decline - Evan Casey - Mar 1st, 2025
- MKE County: County Creates Easy Public Access To Overdose Data - Graham Kilmer - Feb 18th, 2025
- Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and the Office of Emergency Management Launch New Overdose Dashboard - County Executive David Crowley - Feb 18th, 2025
- Fitzgerald Advances Legislation to Fight Opioid Epidemic - U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald - Feb 6th, 2025
- Milwaukee Is Losing a Generation of Black Men To Drug Crisis - Edgar Mendez and Devin Blake - Jan 31st, 2025
- Milwaukee County’s Overdose Deaths Declined For Second Straight Year - Evan Casey - Jan 27th, 2025
- MKE County: United Community Center Awarded Drug Company Money For Addiction Treatment - Graham Kilmer - Jan 12th, 2025
- DHS Provides Update on Distribution of Latest Opioid Settlement Funds - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Jan 9th, 2025
Read more about Opioid Crisis here
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