Attorney General Josh Shaprio speaking to the media Tuesday.
Credit: PA Internet News Service
Pennsylvania’s attorney general visited Montgomery County Tuesday to announce a major expansion of investigations of manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro and a bipartisan group of Attorneys General disclosed new details of the progress of their coordinated investigation, which includes major opioid manufacturers like Endo International (maker of drugs like Opana and Percocet), Janssen Pharmaceuticals (makers of Duragesic, a fentanyl patch), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and its US subsidiary Cephalon Inc., (which manufactures many generic opioids and drugs such as Actiq, a fentanyl lollipop), Allergan Inc . (maker of opioids like Kadian), and Purdue Pharma, (the maker of OxyContin). The investigation has also identified opioid distributors, such as, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson.
Shapiro said during Tuesday’s press conference that he is seeking documents and information about business practices from companies responsible. The attorney generals have also served subpoenas for documents and information – known as Civil Investigative Demands – on the pharmaceutical manufacturers. The multistate investigation has also sent information demand letters to the distributors under investigation.
“To any parent, family or friend of someone lost to addiction, we hear you,” Attorney General Shapiro said at a news conference at an Upper Dublin High School athletic field in Montgomery County. “I’m announcing a major step forward in our investigation into the manufacturing, marketing, sale and distribution of opioids – a class of drugs so dangerous the Centers for Disease Control warns they are “just as addictive as heroin”.”
Nationwide and in Pennsylvania, opioids have been the main driver of fatal drug overdoses. Pennsylvania had 4,642 fatal drug overdoses in 2016 – a 37 percent increase over the year before. Thirteen Pennsylvanians die every day from overdoses; 80 percent of persons suffering from heroin addiction began by abusing prescription drugs.
“This multi-state group of attorneys general is the best public-interest law firm in America, and the attorneys in the Public Protection Division of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General are at the helm of this national investigation,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “We have the resources, expertise and legal authority to take on this fight, and we aren’t letting up. We’re following the evidence wherever it leads so we can change behavior and save lives. Make no mistake: if the law was broken, this team will find it, and we will take action to change the course of this epidemic.”
The actions represent a dramatic expansion and coordination by 41 Attorneys General into the nationwide epidemic. While some states and municipalities have taken individual legal actions, the overwhelming majority of the country’s Attorneys General, from both parties and all parts of the country, have agreed to work together to investigate the marketing distribution and sale of opioids, and to take coordinated legal action as appropriate.
“As we have shown in other cases, broad, bipartisan coalition of attorneys general can impact national problems through litigation and settlements – more effectively at times than when acting alone,” Shapiro said. “This epidemic is a national problem requiring a coordinated response to make the citizens of our states safer and to hold the appropriate parties accountable.”
Before the media, Hatboro Chief of Police James Gardner said the “pathway of addiction” is not always down dark alleyways or in the shadows. He told the story of a former detective who became addiction to opioids following a surgery and ended up losing his career and causing embarrassment to the department.
Several family members of those addicted to opioids told their story following Shapiro’s announcement.
“We’re hoping to make people aware of how dangerous [opioids] are,” said Candy Drecker, whose son passed away from an opioid overdose last year.
