Chicago Files Lawsuit Against Drugmakers Accused Of Deceptive Marketing

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The City of Chicago is suing five pharmaceutical companies for what officials call deceptive marketing of powerful painkillers, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.

The lawsuit accuses the pharmaceutical companies, Purdue Pharma L.P., Cephalon, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Endo Health Solutions Inc. and Actavis plc, of misrepresenting the benefits of narcotic painkillers they market and concealing the risks.

Federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration can often regulate such things but Chicago

Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton says with the sales of such painkillers quadrupling, the companies are violating city ordinances.

"Both our residents and the city itself have been directly impacted the abuse and misuse and the deceptive marketing of these drugs," said Patton.

Patton says some counties in California have filed similar lawsuits and he expects other local governments to follow.