By Jill Sperling

Kamloops mother pleased with lawsuit against drugmakers

Aug 29, 2018 | 3:18 PM

KAMLOOPS — B.C. has become the first province to sue drug companies in relation to the opioid crisis, claiming marketing and promotion presented pain drugs as less addictive than they actually are. 

A Kamloops woman who lost her son to an overdose in 2016 is pleased with the legal action taken against pharmaceutical companies. 

Sandra Tully lost her son Ryan Pinneo to an accidental overdose in January 2016. 

Ryan had ingested an OxyContin pill, unaware it was laced with fentanyl. 

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Ryan had at one point been prescribed OxyContin after getting his wisdom teeth removed. While Tully isn’t certain that is where his addiction began, she feels drug makers didn’t do their due diligence in making sure the opioids they produced were safe. 

“When all of these pain meds came out onto the market they really pushed them as non-addictive, as safe,” Tully said. “So, now we know 20 years later, we know that that’s not the case. They pushed them in medical schools and doctors’ offices and they need to be held responsible.”

Since Ryan’s death, Tully has become an active member of the advocacy group Moms Stop the Harm, which is preparing to observe International Overdose Awareness Day on Friday. 

Local group members have been encouraging people to don purple ribbons in remembrance of lost ones, and are currently fundraising for a memorial bench in Kamloops. 

“The GoFundMe page is Somebody’s Someone Memorial Bench and we feel that in Kamloops we need a place for all our community members and for the generations to come,” Tully said. “A place to go to gather, to remember, to reflect on our lost loved ones and those struggling with addiction as well.”