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Lawsuit Claims Drug Companies Have Raised Insurance Costs In North Carolina

This file photo shows an arrangement of pills of the opioid oxycodone-acetaminophen. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)

A North Carolina man is suing more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies, claiming they have contributed to the rise of insurance costs in the state.

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday by Kevin Wilk of Wake County.

The News and Observer reports Wilk is seeking class action status on behalf of himself and anyone who purchased health insurance policies in North Carolina since 1996.

The suit accuses the defendants of misleading physicians and consumers about the addictive qualities of the drugs they manufactured.

Wilk maintains that misstatements by the companies led to costly prescriptions and subsequent addiction treatments, which in turn meant higher costs for buyers of private health insurance.

State Attorney General Josh Stein has previously filed several lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for their marketing of painkillers.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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