An Unfortunate Side Effect of the Opioid Epidemic

States and municipalities across the United States have had to spend billions of dollars dealing with the nation’s opioid epidemic. Much of this money has gone toward education and treatment problems, as well as prosecuting drug dealers and those caught illegally possessing medications. But there’s an added side effect of this national crisis – an increase in robberies of pharmacies.

Brazen Crimes

In Minnesota alone, the number of opioid-related armed burglaries nearly doubled from 16 in 2015 to 31 in 2016. In 2013, two men brandishing guns stormed a pharmacy in Minneapolis during business hours, demanding painkillers and putting employees in fear for their lives.

One man, according to an article that appears on the website of a Minneapolis television station, robbed at least four pharmacies in a two-month period in 2016. He was accused of sealing approximately 20,000 opioid pills with an estimated street value of more than $200,000.

According to the article, doctors are prescribing fewer opioids and the drugs are getting more difficult to find on the street. As a result, criminals are getting more desperate – and putting lives in danger.

The cost of investigating and prosecuting opioid-related robberies is yet another burden that public entities have been forced to bear due to this terrible epidemic. Baron & Budd is representing several municipalities across the country in lawsuits against the pharmaceutical companies that produce opioid medications.