A proposed legal settlement involving the drug company whose pill triggered Canada’s deadly opioid epidemic shuts the door on the provinces taking action to recoup the costs of treating people dependent on painkillers.
Purdue Pharma, maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, has agreed to pay $20-million, including $2-million to provincial health insurers, to settle the long-standing class-action suit.
The amount earmarked for the provinces reimburses only a fraction of their health-care costs. The provinces’ public drug plans spent $423.3-million over a five-year period on medications used for addiction to prescription painkillers and illicit opioids.
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