Cherokee Nation sues Morris & Dickson for flooding Cherokee Nation counties with prescription opiates, contributing to a rapid increase in fatal overdoses. (Law360, June 8, 2023) - The Cherokee Nation on Thursday accused a Louisiana-based pharmaceutical distributor that was recently stripped of its controlled substances license of fueling the opioid crisis by ignoring suspicious orders in a suit filed in Oklahoma state court.
The Cherokee Nation said that Morris & Dickson, the country's largest privately held drug distributor, shipped more than 3.7 million doses of prescription opioids to the counties of the Cherokee Nation between 2010 and 2014. The counties were flooded by opioid shipments disproportionate to their small populations, contributing to a rapid increase in fatal overdoses, the Cherokee Nation said.
The toll of the crisis is not limited to overdose deaths, with up to a thousand Cherokee children a year whose parents are addicted to opioids being placed into foster care with non-Cherokee families, the nation said.
"The Cherokee Nation, as protector of its history and culture, is irreparably injured when Cherokee children are sent to foster homes or adopted by non-Cherokee families," the nation said, referring to child welfare services.
It also argued that for every overdose death, it's estimated that there are 32 emergency room visits, 10 admissions for addiction treatment and 130 people who are addicted to opioids. Read more.
