A federal judge unsealed an unredacted version of the City of Chicago’s complaint against painkiller manufacturers in which the Windy City outlines marketing practices it alleges were used to persuade doctors to prescribe opioid medications.
Chicago’s lawsuit is one of several lawsuits by municipalities over opioid marketing practices.
Bloomberg reports that the unsealed complaint outlines activities, such as industry-provided speakers fees and medical newsletters that were deployed to make doctors comfortable with prescribing the medications, and includes allegations that drugmakers ““sought to influence continuing medical education courses often required of doctors to keep their licenses current.”
The suit also alleges that drugmakers helped pay for treatment guidelines that downplayed risks associated with these medications.
