With the opioid epidemic raging nationwide, a broad coalition of state attorneys general have teamed up to investigate the marketing practices of pharmaceutical companies manufacturing prescription painkillers.
It’s unclear how many states are participating in the probe and which companies are being investigated. The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office would not confirm or deny the state’s involvement.
“We don’t comment on investigations or if we’re looking into something,” says Ruth Wisher, press secretary for Attorney General Jeff Landry.
Reuters reports the bipartisan group of states—including Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois and Pennsylvania—announced the probe Thursday. The officials said a majority of states have joined the coalition, but they would not reveal which ones or how many have done so.
The investigation comes two weeks after Ohio became the second state, after Mississippi, to file a lawsuit against drug manufacturers for their role in the nation’s opioid crisis. Similar lawsuits have been filed by local governments throughout the country. The Ohio and Mississippi cases have targeted Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson, Endo International Plc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Allergan Plc, according to Reuters.
When Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced his office’s lawsuit May 31, he said drug companies have triggered the opioid crisis by spending millions of dollars promoting painkillers and spreading misleading claims about the risks and benefits of opioids as part of a marketing strategy to encourage chronic use.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says prescription opioids and opioid-related overdoses in the U.S. have quadrupled since 1999. Louisiana ranks among the leading states for painkiller use, with the sixth-highest prescribing rate in the country.
Louisiana also is one of eight U.S. states with more opioid prescriptions than residents, according to a joint investigation by The Associated Press and Center for Public Integrity.
The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office has taken other steps to mitigate the opioid epidemic. In May, Landry announced a settlement with pharmaceutical powerhouse Pfizer that will provide Louisiana with $1 million worth of Naloxone doses, a drug that offsets the effects of opioid overdoses.
Business Report explores how opioid abuse has impacted the workforce and the business community in the cover story of its new issue. Check Wednesday’s Daily Report AM for a link to the story.
—Annie Ourso
