The lawsuit would seek financial damages — possibly tens of millions of dollars — sufficient to repay the county for criminal justice, drug treatment and social service costs incurred by addressing the widespread damage that comes with opioid addiction.
On average, 24 Utahns died from prescription opioid overdose in each month of 2015, data from the Utah Department of Health show. Such death tallies have risen since 2002, the agency says, and opioids are responsible for more drug deaths than from drugs in all other categories.
Salt Lake County residents Dennis and Celeste Cecchini stood alongside McAdams and cheered the effort to go after pharmaceutical companies, who knew about the risks of their drugs, the mayor said, but failed to protect the public.