Christopher Julian’s opioid journey is familiar to many Americans.
He was prescribed painkillers as a teenager for a series of sports injuries. He said the doctor never warned him they could be addictive. Julian didn’t learn that fact until years later, when he was cut off and began suffering withdrawal symptoms. At that point, he started siphoning pills from family members and buying them from others in his southern Maine community.
After his brother died of brain cancer in 2011, Julian used opioids to cope with more than physical pain.
He stole to support his addiction, cycled in and out of jail and treatment, and overdosed 10 times, he said. His mother once gave him CPR on their bathroom floor.
Life was “hell on Earth,” said Julian, now 43 and in long-term recovery.
Like tens of thousands of others who have suffered similarly, Julian filed claims for compensation from pharmaceutical companies accused of fueling the opioid crisis.
Earlier this year, he received his first payout: $324.58.
That’s enough to fill his car with gas about eight times or pay about a tenth of the rent for an apartment he shares with his fiancee and two children.
Christopher Julian of Westbrook, Maine, spent years addicted to opioid painkillers, first prescribed by his doctor. So far, the only compensation he’s received from pharmaceutical companies accused of fueling the opioid crisis is one payment of less than $325. Meanwhile, his county and state are set to receive millions. He hopes they use it to help victims and thei …