HEALTH
Utah County sues opioid drug makers
Oct 8, 2018, 7:12 PM | Updated: 7:17 pm
(Toby Talbot, AP)
PROVO — Utah County is filing a lawsuit against some of the largest opioid manufacturers in the country.
At a press conference Monday, county officials said ‘enough is enough,’ comparing the opioid epidemic to wildfire.
“It will run through lives, it will run through communities,” says Utah County Commissioner Bill Lee. “It has killed, and it doesn’t care who it consumes.”
The county is joining a larger suit combining multiple nationwide cases to be heard in federal court. Officials feel the suit is just a small step toward getting out information to the public about opioids, the dangers they pose, and the risk of addiction.
“And hopefully we’ll be able to curb this and keep that trend going down in the state of Utah when it comes to the opioid issues,” says Lee.
County officials also hope to sit down with some of the drug companies to find a collaborative solution to the ever-growing problem.