Bill Edwards

Bill Edwards

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Dope-oid Suit

The City of Savannah is jumping on the bandwagon with "Mayor Eddie DeLoach announcing this month that we've conducted an investigation into the allegedly deceptive marketing of prescription opioid painkillers by more than 20 manufacturers and distributors, including the makers of OxyContin and other opioid products." So says a news release sent out by the city on April 18th saying further that "...today the City of Savannah has filed a civil lawsuit in the U. S. District Court of the Southern District of Georgia, Savannah, Georgia Division."  The mayor goes on to say, "Like much of the nation, Savannah has felt the sting of the opioid crisis...we owe it to our citizens to set the standard now and do all we can to protect them as we find our way out of this urgent public health crisis." 

The mayor goes on to point out the negative impact on our beautiful city and affected many aspects of our city from a financial point of view as we are "...forced to allocate an increasing amount of resources to law enforcement, public health, public assistance, emergency care and other services to those in need and impacted by this epidemic."  And he says all the evidence points to the pharmaceutical industry as being largely responsible.  Well--YEAH!  Automobile manufacturers are largely responsible for people getting killed by cars too.  If they didn't manufacture them, we couldn't be killed by them.  No one was killed by a car 200 years ago.  

There are people and communities suing gun manufacturers too.  We have a gun violence problem here in Savannah too.  So in addition to suing "Big Pharma" like Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma, et. al then how 'bout we also sue Sig Sauer, Heckler & Koch, Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Springfield, Kel-tec, Winchester, Glock and Remington just to name a few?  

Here's a fact: It's not Ford's fault if some drunk gets behind the wheel of one of the cars and then kills himself or someone(s) else. It's not Smith & Wesson's fault when some evil thug/criminal starts shooting innocent people with one of their firearms.  And it's not "Big Pharma's" fault when people misuse their product.  They have gone through hundreds of millions, if not a billion dollars or more and countless clinical studies and at least eight to ten years before it ever becomes available to the general public (by prescription).  Are we going to sue the doctors for prescribing them too?  How about the pharmacies for selling them?  Should we hit Walgreen's, CVS, Rite Aid or any of our local pharmacies?  Just askin'!

Remember the tobacco settlement about 25 years ago?  What a JOKE!  The lawyers, as usual, made out like bandits, that's for sure.  Are people still smoking?  We in the broadcast industry lost billions in revenue when Congress banned us from advertising cigarettes, then later ALL tobacco products yet people are still using them except now a pack of cigarettes that once cost less than a dollar one now has to ask if the store selling them offers 8% financing.  As part of that, we were told that the cartoon character "Joe Camel" J. R. Reynolds Tobacco used was encouraging children to start smoking.  They got rid of ol' Joe but believe it or not, Ripley, children are still smoking!!! By the way, so far I have not talked to a single doctor, hospital or any other health care facility that claimed they got a dime of that multi-billion-dollar settlement nor did the "cost of healthcare" come down as the powers-that-be promised.  The lawyers involved have some very nice offices they operate from as they drive in from their gated community in their Porches.  

In other words, this is another great income stream from the government's never-have-enough bank account.  And some of the lawyers will make out well too.  Will it solve the problem?  Well, does putting up a "gun free zone" sticker showing a pistol in a circle with a line through it stop mass shootings?  Ask some folks at that Waffle House outside Nashville last weekend.  Once again, can we start treating the disease instead of the symptom?  Your thoughts?


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