Drug firms deny blame for opioid crisis in US

Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance and other defendants yesterday said they were not to blame for the opioid crisis in San Francisco, and that they acted responsibly when providing legal medicine to patients in pain. “Almost all of those prescriptions were written by good, well-meaning doctors,” Walgreens lawyer Kate Swift told San Francisco federal court. In the first trial to target drug manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies over the highly addictive medicine, San Francisco has accused Walgreens, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Allergan and drug distributor Anda of creating a “public nuisance” by flooding the city with prescription opioids.