Michigan lawsuit accuses Walgreens, other drug companies of being drug dealers

The state of Michigan has filed a lawsuit against McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc., Amerisource Bergen Corporation and Walgreens, charging them with creating the opioid crisis by flooding the market with pills and selling them without oversight that could have prevented their misuse.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the suit, filed in Wayne County Circuit Court under the Drug Dealer Liability Act, is the first by a state to sue drug companies as drug dealers. Municipalities have already taken such actions, but Michigan is the first state to do so.

If successful, under the act the suit could result in civil damages against people who participate in the illegal marketing of controlled substances. It could also provide an end-run around an existing state law that makes it tough to bring suit against drug companies for drugs that have already won FDA approval.

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