The city of Everett, Washington has filed a “first-of-its-kind lawsuit” against Perdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin.

Everett, Washington is a place where addiction to heroin and other opioids is officially considered an epidemic. Now, the city  has filed a “first-of-its-kind lawsuit” against the manufacturer of OxyContin. Citing gross negligence, the city claims that when Perdue Pharma marketed OxyContin as a  less-addictive alternative to other pain medication, they did the public a disservice.

The city wants the manufacturer to start paying to repair damages done to the community harmed by the epidemic. Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said “we are going to go at them, and we are going to go at them hard.”

Officials claim that at the height of the epidemic, OxyContin was a factor in more than half of the crimes committed in Snohomish County.

In an LA Times article it was noted that “those drawn to the pills included young people and professionals who saw the painkiller as more fashionable and less dangerous than street drugs.

Many became addicted and lost their homes, jobs and families. After Purdue reformulated OxyContin in 2010 to make it harder to abuse, addicts moved en masse to heroin, which has a similar effect.”

Experts have mixed opinions about Everett’s chances of recovering money.