The Quebec class action alleges that opioid makers misled users about the risks

A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a lawsuit against 16 pharmaceutical companies for allegedly misleading consumers about the effectiveness and dangers of opioid drugs.

The class action includes all individuals in Quebec diagnosed with an opioid use disorder after being prescribed opioid drugs manufactured by pharmaceutical companies from 1996 to the present.

Margo Siminovich, one of the attorneys representing people who have developed opioid use disorders, says the plaintiff's representative was never warned about the dangers of the drug.

Roofer Jean-Francois Bourassa was prescribed opioids after falling from work in 2005 and has been using them for more than a decade, developing an addiction.

The pharmaceutical companies have opposed allowing the class action to proceed, which claims all opioids are the same and includes companies whose representative plaintiffs have never consumed the drug.

The lawsuit seeks $30,000 in damages for each class member, plus additional damages to be determined on an individual basis, as well as $25 million in punitive damages.

– This Canadian Press report was first published on April 16, 2024.