NDP wants Ottawa to consider criminal charges against pharmaceutical companies over opioid crisis
Posted October 24, 2018 3:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) – The federal NDP wants Ottawa to look at whether pharmaceutical companies and CEOs can be charged in connection to the opioid epidemic.
Leader Jagmeet Singh also wants the Trudeau government to get behind a class action lawsuit out of B.C. that’s trying to recoup costs related to the crisis.
“We’re asking the federal government to commit to supporting that class-action lawsuit in B.C. or launch its own, pursuing the potential liability of pharmaceutical companies in this opioid crisis.”
Singh says this type of action has already been taken in the United States.
“We’re asking the government to explore if that same liability is something that is potentially available to us here in Canada. You’ve got the Food and Drug Act as one piece of legislation that outlines requirements. We’re asking the government to pursue if there’s options to lay criminal charges under the Food and Drug Act.”
Before the NDP’s announcement today, the federal health minister said she will consider using all tools available to address the crisis.
In 2017, 4,000 Canadians died due to opioid overdoses.
