--- title: Chicago Sues Painkiller Makers for Deceptive Marketing description: Five pharmaceutical companies stand accused of marketing a highly addictive painkiller, normally used for cancer treatments, as an answer to everyday aches and pains canonical: https://time.com/2821843/chicago-painkiller-marketing/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-04T14:15:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:12:20.027Z article:section: Health og:title: Chicago Sues Painkiller Makers for Deceptive Marketing og:description: Five pharmaceutical companies stand accused of marketing a highly addictive painkiller, normally used for cancer treatments, as an answer to everyday aches and pains og:url: https://time.com/2821843/chicago-painkiller-marketing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83ee255d240c6a2a/6986961cd0b6f247b1304b38/480813857.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5500 og:image:height: 3094 og:image:alt: 480813857 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chicago Sues Painkiller Makers for Deceptive Marketing twitter:description: Five pharmaceutical companies stand accused of marketing a highly addictive painkiller, normally used for cancer treatments, as an answer to everyday aches and pains twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83ee255d240c6a2a/6986961cd0b6f247b1304b38/480813857.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chicago Sues Painkiller Makers for Deceptive Marketing > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Jun 4, 2014 2:15 PM UTC  Pain killers pouring from brown medicine bottle Pain killers pouring from brown medicine bottle Rafe Swan—Getty Images/Cultura RF  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Jun 4, 2014 2:15 PM UTC The city of Chicago [filed suit](http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/press%5Froom/press%5Freleases/2014/may/city-of-chicago-sues-big-pharma-for-deceptively-marketing-highly.html) against five pharmaceutical manufacturers on Monday, for allegedly marketing a class of highly potent painkillers for common aches and pains, while masking the risks of addiction. The lawsuit [charges](http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/press%5Froom/press%5Freleases/2014/may/city-of-chicago-sues-big-pharma-for-deceptively-marketing-highly.html) Purdue Pharma L.P., Cephalon, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Endo Health Solutions Inc. and Actavis plc for marketing highly addictive opioids normally used in cancer treatments as a remedy for everyday pains, including back pains, arthritis and headaches. “This has led to a dramatic rise in drug addiction, overdose and diversion in communities across the nation, and Chicago is not immune to this epidemic,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a statement. The city is seeking compensation for approximately $9.5 million in prescription payments. It also alleges drug abuse burdened local hospitals with an influx of patients. The mayor’s office said painkiller abuse had climbed 65% between 2004 and 2011, resulting in 1,080 trips to the emergency room. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2821843/chicago-painkiller-marketing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2821843/chicago-painkiller-marketing/"},"headline":"Chicago Sues Painkiller Makers for Deceptive Marketing","datePublished":"2014-06-04T14:15:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:12:20.027Z","description":"Five pharmaceutical companies stand accused of marketing a highly addictive painkiller, normally used for cancer treatments, as an answer to everyday aches and pains","url":"https://time.com/2821843/chicago-painkiller-marketing/","keywords":["medicine","Cancer","chicago","Pharmaceuticals","Addiction","opioids","cities","painkillers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83ee255d240c6a2a/6986961cd0b6f247b1304b38/480813857.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83ee255d240c6a2a/6986961cd0b6f247b1304b38/480813857.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"480813857","caption":"480813857","creditText":"Rafe Swan—Getty Images/Cultura RF","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicine/","name":"medicine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2821843/chicago-painkiller-marketing/","name":"Chicago Sues Painkiller Makers for Deceptive Marketing"}}]}] ```