While thousands of cities and counties have banded together to sue opioid makers and distributors in federal court, another group of plaintiffs has started to sue on their own: hospitals. “The expense of treating overdose and opioid-addicted patients has skyrocketed, straining the resources of hospitals throughout our state,” said Lee Bond, CEO of Singing River Health System in Mississippi in a statement. His hospital is part of a lawsuit in Mississippi. Hospitals may discover downsides to getting involved in litigation, said Paul Keckley, an independent health analyst. “The drug manufacturers are a soft target,” he said. But the invasive nature of litigation may generate “some unflattering attention” for hospitals, he added. They’d likely have to turn over confidential details about how they set prices, as well as their relationships with drug companies. So, despite representing the front lines of the opioid epidemic, most hospitals have been hesitant to pile on.
Source: Kaiser Health News
Read more at: https://khn.org/news/hospitals-lawsuit-opioid-makers-addiction-treatment-uninsured/
