A Guide for Ohio Opioid Law

As of August 2017, Ohio implemented additional regulations on pain prescriptions, particularly highly addictive opioids. These included prescription limits and additional caution for prescribers to avoid an opioid crisis like the one that plagued America in the early 2000s.

Ohio opioid law now includes a system of checks and balances for healthcare professionals that would require them to internally document opioid prescriptions, dosages and the reasoning behind their decisions.

Opioid prescribing limits include:

• A max of seven days of opiates can be prescribed for adults
• A max of five days of opiates can be prescribed for minors
• An excess opioid dosage can be prescribed if a specific reason is annotated in the patient’s medical history
• In most cases, morphine doses cannot exceed an average of 30 MED daily
• These restrictions do not apply to cancer, palliative care or addiction treatment regimens

Opioid Law Concerns for Prescribers in Ohio

Opioid over-prescription is a real threat to the safety of Ohio residents who require stronger medications for pain management. There are many ways in which the modified opioid law in Ohio is forcing practitioners to change their behavior. Prescribing doctors must:

• Determine whether there are non-opioid options available for treatment
• Better informing patients of the potential risks and side effects
• Implement procedures for monitoring to prevent opioid abuse
• Communicate with pain medicine specialists to ensure that proper documentation and follow-up are established

Opioid law exists to ensure that there’s more transparency when these powerful narcotic painkillers are being prescribed and to hold doctors accountable for their prescription habits. If any of these cases are handled inappropriately, or prescribers do not take into account their level of responsibility, liability for medical malpractice may ensue if harm comes from the misuse of prescribed or distributed opioids.

Assessing Liability for Opioid Abuse

Assessing liability for opioid over prescription and abuse may necessitate proving negligence, malicious intent or proving unfair business practices. It will require medical evidence, evidence of loss and testimonies against any prescriber or pharmaceutical company involved.

Drug Companies

There are many tactics medical malpractice attorneys and investigators may use when it comes to assessing and proving the liability of large companies, corporations and opioid manufacturers. These may include:

●      Identifying deceptive business practices

●      Identifying suspiciously relaxed monitoring of potentially illegitimate opioid orders

●      Highlighting immense profit from unfair business practices

●      Attesting to the public health crisis as a result of an opioid increase

●      Highlighting leaked evidence that companies are aware of more dangerous side effects of their opioids

Doctors, Nurses and Healthcare Professionals

Liability from human error may be attributed to any healthcare professional involved in opioid prescription. It may come down to:

• Proving negligence
• Proving the duty of care was breached
• Identifying necessary information that should have been shared with the patient

Predatory Opioid Marketing in Ohio

The most consequential lawsuit involving over-prescription and predatory marketing surrounding an opioid was the 2007 case against Purdue Pharma and their drug OxyContin.

Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family, was the manufacturer of the highly addictive opioid OxyContin. They faced a lawsuit in 2007 for the prescription and allegedly dangerously reckless business practices concerning the overproduction and supply of this opioid. They faced several lawsuits from 2010 to 2018 that were resolved in a massive settlement payout in 2020, along with hefty fines from multiple state governments.

The Sackler family was found to be guilty of handling many of the procedures behind closed doors, and as a result, several lawsuits were filed against them personally as their crimes came to light.

The Sacklers pleaded guilty to criminal charges and were found to have targeted high-volume prescribers to boost OxyContin sales. In 2020, the House of Representative’s Committee on Oversight and Reform met to discuss the role of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family in the opioid pandemic that has raged in America since the early 2000s. Since that time, nearly half a million lives have been lost to the opioid crisis.

Purdue Pharma was found guilty and made to pay nearly five billion in settlement costs. This amount does not include the personal lawsuits against the Sackler family.

However, this injustice was not only sustained by Purdue Pharma. Many pharmaceutical companies and distributors, such as CVS, Cardinal Health and Walgreens, also dealt with legal action for marketing OxyContin inappropriately. 

States and local governments suggested that the risks that come with using OxyContin were downplayed while the shelves of local distributors remained overstocked. Regulators and courts appeared to agree that abuse of the drug was ignored in favor of corporate greed and profit.

Representation for Medical Malpractice Claims

Medical malpractice cases as a result of opioid prescription errors and doctor negligence need to be thoroughly evaluated to determine the ideal course of action. At the Buckeye Law Group, a dedicated medical malpractice lawyer is ready to help you analyze your case.

If you have suffered any injury or the untimely death of a loved one from medication error, call 1-800-411-pain for a free case evaluation today.