---
title: Litigation Is Not The Solution To The Opioid Epidemic
date: 2017-12-15T00:00:00-05:00
author: Import Bot
canonical_url: "https://www.kelleydrye.com/viewpoints/articles/litigation-is-not-the-solution-to-the-opioid-epidemic"
section: Articles
---
# Litigation Is Not The Solution To The Opioid Epidemic

  December 15, 2017

Law360

 

 

 

 

 

 

Partners [William Escobar](/Our-People/William-A-Escobar), [Neil Merkl](/Our-People/Neil-Merkl) and [Clifford Katz](/Our-People/Clifford-Katz) authored the *Law360* article ​“Litigation Is Not The Solution To The Opioid Epidemic” discussing the simplistic comparison of today’s opioid addiction crisis to the large-scale tobacco litigation of the 1990s. The authors explain that unlike tobacco, for most, opioids are medicine. The causes of the opioid epidemic are myriad and unique, and undermine the legal claims faced by manufacturers. Opioids are not tobacco, and pharmaceutical companies — who produce and distribute medicines that for many provide vital relief from chronic, agonizing pain — are not cigarette companies.”

 

 

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