Drug & Device News

As part of its efforts to combat rampant drug abuse, the City of Chicago is suing several opioid-drug manufacturers, claiming that they have engaged in “a scheme to misinform the health care community and consumers about the risks, benefits and superiority of the opium-like painkillers” they manufacture. The City agreed to redaction of part of the complaint and some of the pre-suit investigative materials, at the drug manufacturers' request, the manufacturers asserting that these things included confidential company information. But three news outlets ' The Los Angeles Times, USA Today and The Chicago Tribune ' moved in mid-July to intervene in the lawsuit to unseal the redacted materials. They claim that their First Amendment and common law rights to access to judicial proceedings are being limited by the redactions, and that the public has a right to know what is happening in the case. Named in the lawsuit are pharmaceuticals companies Actavis PLC, Cephalon Inc., Endo Health Solutions Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Johnson & Johnson, the Purdue Frederick Company Inc., Purdue Pharma Inc., Purdue Pharma L.P., and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd.