Poilievre may be 'too late' on promise to sue Big Pharma to tackle opioid crisis: lawyer
A class-action lawyer from a Windsor firm warns Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre’s proposal to sue pharmaceutical companies which have contributed to the opioid crisis may not be the most practical method of acquiring more funding for addiction treatment beds.
In an interview with CTV Windsor News on Feb. 10, Poilievre was asked how we would tackle the opioid crisis. Speaking out against safe consumption and treatment sites, Poilievre said a PC government would boost dollars for addiction treatment centres and open more bed space.
To acquire the necessary funding, Poilievre said he would “sue the pharmaceutical companies that flooded our communities with these drugs in the first place for their own profit.”
“I'm going to get massive awards from that. I'm going to use their money to pay for the treatment that our people need,” he said on Feb. 10.
According to Harvey Strosberg, a senior partner at Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP, Poilievre’s plan to sue pharmaceutical companies is being pitched “too late” and is already happening at the provincial level.
That’s because Ontario passed legislation in 2019 allowing it to join five other provinces in a class-action lawsuit led by British Columbia.
The suit seeks to recover costs from manufacturers and distributors dating back to 1996, when the pain drug OxyContin was introduced in the Canadian market.
In June 2022, a proposed settlement of $150 million with Purdue Pharma Canada — which has been accused by government officials of being one of the main contributors to national opioid crisis by deceptively marketing their products as less addictive than they really are — was reached on behalf of all provinces and territories to recover health-care costs related to the sale and marketing of opioid-derived pain medication.
The allegations against Purdue Canada have not been proven in court.
Two months later in Oct. 2022, the B.C. government said it would introduce amendments to legislation that would allow the federal government to join that same class-action suit.
Strosberg also points to class-action lawsuits that were filed against three major tobacco companies in 1998. It wasn’t until 2015 that a Superior Court judge ordered those companies to pay more than $15 billion to smokers who either fell ill or were addicted.
“Because of that judgement, the companies went into restructuring. The class action members have not seen a dime yet almost 20 years later,” said Strosberg.
“While [Poilievre] is raising a critical problem, litigation doesn’t go that quickly, sadly. His idea is wonderful, but practically, it’s a very long process.”
In 2021, Purdue’s U.S. arm filed a restructuring plan to dissolve itself, while its ownership family agreed to pay US$4.2 billion to resolve a number of civil claims.
CTV News Windsor has reached out to Poilievre for more details on his plans for litigation but has not heard back.
With files from The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and CTV News Vancouver’s Todd Coyne and CTVNews.ca’s Cameron French.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Biden calls the Israeli strike killing Hezbollah's Nasrallah a 'measure of justice'
U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday called the Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah a 'measure of justice' for his four-decade reign of terror.
LGBTQ2S+ minister Pascale St-Onge to make history with parental leave
Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge is set to make history by becoming the first openly lesbian cabinet minister to take parental leave when her wife gives birth in the coming weeks.
'I want to leave but I'm scared': Calgarian and her kids stuck in Lebanon as conflict rages on
Safaa went to Lebanon looking to meet with a specialist for her Crohn's disease. Now, she and her four children are caught in the conflict between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.
'Imagine a world without their song': Toronto photographer wins international award for picture of 4,000 dead birds
Thousands of dead birds, from kingfishers to blue jays, encircle a wild turkey to illustrate in one snapshot a mere fragment of how many die from colliding into glass windows – a death that can be easily prevented, the Torontonian photographer says.
What is open and closed this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
This Monday, Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR), a federal statutory holiday and day of remembrance for the Indigenous children who never came home from Canadian residential schools, as well as those who survived them.
At least 52 dead and millions without power after Helene's deadly march across southeastern U.S.
Hurricane Helene caused at least 52 deaths and billions of dollars of destruction across a wide swath of the southeastern U.S. as it raced through, and more than three million customers went into the weekend without any power and for some a continued threat of floods.
Hezbollah confirms its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike
Lebanon's Hezbollah group confirmed on Saturday that its leader and one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day
Police swarm home after man allegedly confronts snowmobile owner with crossbow
Several heavily armed officers descended on a home in the southeast area of Barrie Thursday afternoon after reports of a man armed with a crossbow.
Scientists discover hidden ancient forest on treeless island
Trees haven't grown on the Falkland Islands for thousands of years. But tree trunks and branches preserved in peat suggest the islands were once home to a forest.