Nunavut expected to join lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies
Provinces, territories across country passing legislation to join B.C.-led action over care costs related to opioid use
The Government of Nunavut plans to join a proposed class-action lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies led by British Columbia. (Public domain photo)
The Government of Nunavut has tabled a bill that will enable it to join a lawsuit led by the British Columbia government against pharmaceutical companies.
If passed, Bill 28, the Opioid Damages and Health Care Cost Recovery Act, will create a “cause of action” for the Nunavut government against opioid manufacturers and consultants to recoup health-care costs caused by “opioid-related” wrongs, said David Akeeagok, MLA for Quttiktuq, when tabling the bill for second reading in the legislative assembly Monday.
MLAs ushered the bill through without debate.
Provinces and territories across Canada are in the process of passing similar bills that will allow their governments to join the suit, launched by the B.C. government in 2018.
“Nunavut is a party to the proposed class-action,” said Stephen P. Shaddock, director of policy and planning for the Justice Department, in an email.
“Bill 28, and acts like it across Canada, support provincial and territorial efforts in this matter.”
He said the bill is intended to create a national consistency and avoid overlap so all governments can “access justice in a fair and efficient way.”
The suit alleges opioid manufacturers, distributors and consultants used deceptive marketing to increase sales of opioids, and this has resulted in increased rates of addiction and overdose.
It names more than 40 opioid manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors as defendants, including well-known Canadian drugstore chains Shoppers Drug Mart and Jean Coutu Group of Quebec.
Nunatsiaq News asked Nunavut’s Department of Health for data on opioid-related overdoses and deaths in the territory but did not receive an answer.
There is some data available through the Public Health Agency of Canada, which monitors opioid and stimulant-related harms across the country.
According to the agency’s data, due to privacy concerns the GN suppressed, or did not publicly release the exact number, of opioid toxicity deaths that were lower than four. Data is suppressed for two quarters of last year, which indicates the total number for 2022 would be at least two.
The GN reported zero deaths for the first quarter of 2023, which is the most recent data reported through the agency.
The agency combined opioid-related hospitalization data across the three territories to report 24 hospitalizations in 2022 and seven between January and March this year.
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