syringe-1884784_960_720The opioid crisis continues, with more than 2 million Americans being affected by prescription opioid misuse every year. According to the Rochester Business Journal, the rate of overdose deaths related to opioids in the U.S. has more than tripled between 2000 and 2015, and a Snap Roll recently revealed that just over half (53%) of respondents feel as though the pharmaceutical companies are a cause of the epidemic.

In response to this outcry, a new strategy in combating addiction and overdose rates involves targeting the pharmaceutical companies that promote and market the prescription painkillers. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that almost half of all opioid overdose deaths last year involved prescription drugs.

Today, more than 1.5 billion people live with chronic pain, but many addiction experts believe that some doctors are prescribing painkillers that are too strong and prescribing them for an extended period of time. Four in five new heroin users started out misusing prescription painkillers.

That’s just one reason why a number of public officials and patient advocates have filed lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for ‘downplaying’ the drugs’ addictive qualities. In the same way that Big Tobacco was once targeted for lung cancer deaths, some politicians hope to hold pharmaceutical companies legally responsible for the opioid epidemic.

Already, lawsuits have been filed by at least eight New York counties: Broome, Dutchess, Erie, Niagara, Orange, Seneca, Suffolk, and Sullivan. Most recently, Wyoming and Genesee are considering filing suits as well.

“The lawsuits are similar to the legal action taken against the tobacco industry in the 1990s, which led to the largest civil-litigation settlement agreement in U.S. history,” says the Rochester Business Journal.

Still, in the most recent Snap Poll, 53% of respondents said that pharmaceutical companies are only partially to blame. While 20% cited RX companies as the biggest cause of the epidemic, another 27% denied any blame by pharmaceutical companies.

The frank comments provided by some of the respondents provide a snapshot of public opinion on this controversial issue:

“…I believe most of us know someone that has lost a loved one to these pain ‘killers,'” commented Victor E. Salerno, CEO of O’Connell Electric Company, Inc. “As parents and grandparents, we should all do everything in our power to never allow our children or grandchildren to be prescribed these opioid-based drugs by a doctor or dentist. As our company we are doing all we can to protect our employees and their families from this disaster.”

Some commenters attribute blame to “unethical members of the medical profession” for overprescribing, but others still see it as a matter of taking personal responsibility.

“…Shall we sue the liquor companies and beer companies because some customers abuse their products? McDonald’s because some of their food can make you fat after you chose to eat too much of it?” wrote respondent Brian Urban.

“We have big problems with underemployment, poverty and despair in many parts of our country,” commented respondent Emily Neece. “We need to focus on the issues underlying their losses and problems along with enlisting the understanding and cooperation of the pharmaceutical companies. There are no simple answers.”