New Orleans now joins many other cities across the U.S. to make opiod lawsuits possibly the largest civil litigation issue in the nation's history. Eyewitness News talked to a social worker who’s been on the front lines trying to save opioid addicts from dying.
"There's a list in my head I've been doing this about 15 years and there are, off the top of my head, at least 15 people that have died that I know personally,” Jeffrey Dupuis said.
Dupuis is a social worker with Medical Assisted Recovery Centers in the New Orleans Area. He's seen irst-hand what opioid addiction has done to some of his clients.
"I can tell you it's heartbreaking, just this past year I had a woman who was treated when she was 17 years old and struggled on and off for about 10 years to maintain some kind of sobriety.”
He told Eyewitness News that client would become sober, attend meetings, but at some point the urge would become too strong, and she'd relapse. And it hasn't been until recently that powerful opiates such as Fentanyl made opioid addiction deadlier.
"She went out one night, and died of an overdose."
He doesn't blame drug companies entirely, but he's looking for them to be more responsible.
"Opioids up until this point were widely available because up until this point they were touted as a non-habit forming, non-addictive way to treat pain."
It's a fight that has similarities with the fight against tobacco. The costs to treat those who overdose however has notably put a strain on resources here in New Orleans, particularly in health and emergency services.
The city now hopes a lawsuit it filed Thursday will help put a price tag on the treatment it's provided to those who have OD'ed.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell's office wrote in a statement that - "It's very clear that the associated costs to the city are significant.”
"Tobacco settlements, some of money that was supposed to go towards positive things never made it there," said Dupuis.
While Dupuis thinks it'd be nice to see drug makers pay restitution he says if one person can be saved because of changes, it's made the lawsuit worth it.
"My hope would be that the people who are taking opiods and there are people who need to take them for pain are aware and the risks associated with it," added Dupuis.