Cherokee Nation Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers Still Ongoing

The Cherokee Nation is suing opioid manufacturers, distributors and retail pharmacies who dispensed medication to tribal citizens.

Tuesday, March 26th 2019, 8:23 pm



The Cherokee Nation is suing opioid manufacturers, distributors and retail pharmacies who dispensed medication to tribal citizens. The tribal lawsuit, in federal court, at the earliest could be resolved at the end of the year, according to Cherokee Attorney General Todd Hembree.

The lawsuit filed by the Cherokees is not tied to the State of Oklahoma settlement reached Tuesday.

“It is a good strike against the industry and someone always has to be first,” said Hembree, who hopes for a similar settlement for the tribe. “You change behavior by hitting their pocketbook hard enough that they change what they’re doing,”

The Federal Government offered to help the tribe address a growing opioid crisis in 2017, when the U-S Secretary of Health visited Tahlequah and spoke with Chief Bill John Baker. Baker described a common finding that children born in the tribal hospital had opioids in their system.

Federal grants followed, for treatment through Cherokee Health Services, and job training for people in recovery. Any money the tribe gets out of the lawsuit would expand those programs.

Hembree said industry information shows that in 2015 and 2016 pharmaceutical companies sent 184 million doses of opioids into the 14 counties of the Cherokee Nation - enough for 153 doses per person over two years. He said that the flow of addictive medication created a problem that the entire generation of Cherokees will deal with for years to come.

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