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DOJ Press Conference - Statement of Interest
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Justice Department to File Statement of Interest in Opioid Case (PRESS RELEASE)
Feb 27, 2018 | Department of Justice
The Department of Justice today announced it will be filing a Statement of Interest in a multi-district action regarding hundreds of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors. -
Attorney General Sessions Delivers Remarks Announcing the Prescription Interdiction and Litigation Task Force (PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT)
Feb 27, 2018 | DOJ
Remarks as prepared for delivery: -
Attorney General Sessions Announces New Prescription Interdiction & Litigation Task Force (PRESS RELEASE)
Feb 27, 2018 | DOJ
Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced the creation of a new effort, the Department of Justice Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (PIL) Task Force, to fight the prescription opioid crisis. The PIL Task Force will aggressively deploy and coordinate all available criminal and civil law enforcement tools to reverse the tide of opioid overdoses in the United States, with a particular focus on opioid manufacturers and distributors. -
Justice Dept. to target opioid manufacturers, distributors in new push to curb deadly epidemic
Feb 27, 2018 | Washington Post
By Lenny Bernstein, Katie Zezima and Sari Horwitz
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday creation of a new task force focused specifically on targeting opioid manufacturers and distributors, and holding them accountable for unlawful practices. -
U.S. to file 'statement of interest' in lawsuits against opioid makers, distributors
Feb 27, 2018 | Reuters
By Staff
The federal government will seek reimbursement from major drug companies and distributors to recover costs it has borne from the opioid epidemic, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday. -
DOJ to support lawsuits against companies selling opioids
Feb 27, 2018 | Associated Press
By Sadie Gurman & Geoff Mulvihill
The Justice Department says it will support local officials in hundreds of lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors of powerful opioid painkillers. -
Justice Department to join wave of state, city lawsuits against opioid makers, Sessions says
Feb 27, 2018 | NBC News
By Jon Schuppe
The Justice Department on Tuesday joined an escalating effort to squeeze money from companies who made the prescription painkillers that fueled America's opioid crisis, saying it would back lawsuits by hundreds of cities, states and other local governments that accuse the manufacturers of fooling the public into thinking the drugs were safe. -
Attorney General Jeff Sessions makes announcement on opioid policy
Feb 27, 2018 | CBS News
By Emily Tillett
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has unveiled the Department of Justice's latest task force as part of Sessions' ongoing campaign to combat the nation's crippling opioid epidemic. The Prescription Interdiction Litigation task force, or PILS, aims to target opioid manufacturers and distributors who have contributed to the epidemic. -
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces new opioid task force to target drug makers, distributors who fuel prescription painkiller epidemic
Feb 27, 2018 | CNBC
By Dan Mangan
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday said a new task force will target the makers and distributors of prescription painkillers who have contributed to an epidemic of fatal overdoses from opioids by selling too much of the addictive drugs. -
Sessions Says DOJ to Backstop States' Efforts to Hold Big Pharma Liable in Opioid Crisis
Feb 27, 2018 | National Law Journal
By Max Mitchell
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced a new initiative to bolster state efforts to combat the growing opioid crisis. -
AG Jeff Sessions: Feds will support states, local governments on opioid lawsuits
Feb 27, 2018 | Pitssburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
By Rich Lord
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday announced that the Department of Justice will weigh in on the side of the growing number of states and other governments that are suing the makers and distributors of prescription opioids. -
Justice Department will back lawsuits against drug makers for contributing to opioid epidemic
Feb 27, 2018 | Washington Examiner
By Kelly Cohen
The Department of Justice plans to support lawsuits against drug manufacturers and distributors that have contributed to the opioid epidemic. -
Justice seeks reimbursement from manufacturers, distributors for opioid crisis
Feb 27, 2018 | The Hill
By Rachel Roubein
The Department of Justice is filing a statement of interest in the opioid lawsuits against distributors and manufacturers, arguing that the federal government should be reimbursed for the significant costs it has borne from the crisis. -
Justice Department sides with states in nationwide opioid lawsuit against distributors, manufacturers
Feb 27, 2018 | STAT News
By Lev Facher
The Department of Justice will ramp up its investigations of opioid manufacturers and distributors and weigh in on a number of state lawsuits, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Tuesday, ahead of an “opioids summit” to be held at the White House later this week. -
Sessions announces PIL task force to combat opioid epidemic
Feb 27, 2018 | Register Herald (WV)
By Wendy Holdren
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced during a Tuesday press conference a new task force dedicated to fighting the opioid epidemic. -
Justice Dept. to target opioid makers, distributors
Feb 27, 2018 | The Washington Times
By Jeff Mordock
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has created a new task force to target the manufacturers and distributors of prescription painkillers that have contributed to an epidemic of opioid overdoses. -
Sessions targets opioid manufacturers with new task force
Feb 27, 2018 | United Press International
By Danielle Haynes
The Justice Department has formed a new task force to target drug manufacturers and distributors that have contributed to the nation's opioid crisis, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday, the third such team he has created to tackle the epidemic. -
DeWine hails Sessions’ targeting of opioid makers, distributors
Feb 27, 2018 | The Columbus Dispatch (OH)
By Jack Torry
Joined by “my old friend Mike DeWine of Ohio,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday the Justice Department will “target” manufacturers and distributors of opioids who have contributed to the epidemic sweeping Ohio and other states. -
Justice officials, Pa. attorney general talk about latest actions in opioid fight
Feb 27, 2018 | The Morning Call (PA)
By Laura Olsen
The U.S. Department of Justice is launching a new task force targeting opioid manufacturers and distributors, as well as weighing in on legal action against a number of those companies, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday afternoon. -
Trump Justice Department wades in to opioid lawsuits as Harris County fights to keep its case local
Feb 27, 2018 | Houston Chronice (TX)
By Keri Blakinger
The federal government is wading into the legal battle against prescription painkillers, even as Harris County is fighting to keep its lawsuit in local courts. -
DOJ Announces New Task Force to Crack Down on Opioid Manufacturers
Feb 27, 2018 | The Washington Free Beacon
By Charles Fain Lehman
The Department of Justice will create a new task force to combat the surging opioid epidemic, focused in particular on the contributions of opioid manufacturers and distributors to the epidemic's rising death toll, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday. -
DOJ Will Weigh in on Lawsuits Against Opioid Manufacturers
Feb 27, 2018 | Health Leaders Media
By Steven Porter
Attorneys general unveil plans to pull legal levers in the fight against opioid addiction, placing much of the blame on those who push addictive painkillers. -
Opioid crisis: justice department to back local lawsuits against manufacturers
Feb 27, 2018 | The Guardian
By Jessica Glenza
A new federal taskforce will target misdeeds of opioid manufacturers and distributors, and the US Department of Justice will back lawsuits brought by local governments against makers of the prescription painkillers at the root of the opioids public health crisis, the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, announced on Tuesday. -
Sessions Creates New Task Force to Target Rx Opioids
Feb 27, 2018 | Pain News Network
By Pat Anson
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced the creation of a new task force targeting manufacturers and distributors of opioid pain medication, as well as physicians and pharmacies engaged in the “unlawful” prescribing of opioids. -
Power Lunch
Feb 27, 2018 | National Programming
By CNBC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33072002?token=21ad816e-7318-48bd-b8d7-045653d54b5d -
News All Day
Feb 27, 2018 | New York, NY
By NY1HD (Spectrum News)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33072058?token=21ad816e-7318-48bd-b8d7-045653d54b5d -
NBC 10 News at 4p
Feb 27, 2018 | Philadelphia, PA
By WCAU (NBC)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33072056?token=21ad816e-7318-48bd-b8d7-045653d54b5d
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Justice Department to File Statement of Interest in Opioid Case (PRESS RELEASE)
Feb 27, 2018 | Department of Justice
The Department of Justice today announced it will be filing a Statement of Interest in a multi-district action regarding hundreds of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The plaintiffs include numerous cities, municipalities, and medical institutions that have borne the costs of the prescription opioid crisis. The plaintiffs seek to recover the costs associated with providing treatment and public safety measures relating to the opioid epidemic from those who allegedly used false, deceptive, or unfair marketing practices for prescription opioid drugs.
The Justice Department will primarily argue that the federal government—through various federal health programs and law enforcement efforts—has borne substantial costs from the opioid epidemic and seeks reimbursement.
In announcing the plan to file the Statement of Interest, Attorney General Jeff Sessions provided the following statement:
“Opioid abuse is driving the deadliest drug crisis in American history. It has cost this nation hundreds of thousands of precious lives. It has strained our public health and law enforcement resources and bankrupted countless families across this country. President Trump and this administration have made ending this unprecedented crisis a priority, and the Department of Justice is committed to using every lawful tool at our disposal to turn the tide. We will seek to hold accountable those whose illegality has cost us billions of taxpayer dollars.” -
Feb 27, 2018 | DOJ
Remarks as prepared for delivery:
Good afternoon, and thank you all for being here.
I want to start by thanking our Acting Associate Attorney General, Jesse Panuccio, our Acting DEA Administrator Patterson, and our state Attorneys General who have joined us here today: Patrick Morrissey of West Virginia, Brad Schimel of Wisconsin, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Ken Paxton of Texas, Leslie Rutledge of Arkansas, Sean Reyes of Utah, and my old friend Mike DeWine of Ohio. Each of them has made combating opioid abuse a priority and has shown outstanding leadership.
I want to commend them for doing that—because today our nation is facing the deadliest drug epidemic in our history.
And make no mistake, this is not business as usual. It is the resolute policy of this Administration and this Department of Justice to reduce these overdose deaths, to reduce addiction, and to reduce the amount of prescription opioids in this county.
In 2016, an estimated 64,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses. That is the highest ever recorded in our history, and follows a record increase in fatal overdoses. Preliminary data suggest that 2017 was even worse—albeit with a much smaller increase.
The vast majority of these deaths are the result of opioids—prescription painkillers, heroin, and deadly new synthetic drugs like fentanyl.
In the United States, I recently read that we consume the vast majority of the world's hydrocodone and more than 80 percent of its oxycodone. It is estimated that we use many times more opioids than is medically necessary for a population our size. Millions of Americans are living with an addiction.
A recent study found that the opioid crisis has cost the United States $1 trillion since 2001. Last year alone it cost us $115 billion. The study estimates that over the next three years, it will cost us another half a trillion dollars.
President Trump has made ending this crisis a priority for this administration, and he has taken action from the beginning of his presidency.
Under his strong leadership, the Department of Justice has taken historic new actions to reverse the rising tide of addiction and death.
In July, we brought charges against more than 120 defendants, including a number of doctors, for crimes related to prescribing or distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics.
A week later, I announced the seizure of AlphaBay, the largest criminal marketplace on the Internet.
This site hosted some 220,000 drug listings – including more than 100 vendors advertising fentanyl – and was responsible for countless synthetic opioid overdoses, including the tragic death of a 13-year old in Utah.
In August, I created the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit, a new data analytics program to help find evidence of overprescribing and opioid-related health care fraud. I then assigned 12 experienced Assistant United States Attorneys to opioid “hot-spots” to focus solely on investigating and prosecuting opioid-related health care fraud. By November they had begun issuing indictments.
In October, the Department announced the first-ever indictments of Chinese nationals and their North American-based traffickers and distributers for separate conspiracies to distribute fentanyl and other opioids in the United States.
Also in October, the DEA announced the establishment of six new enforcement teams focused on combatting the flow of heroin and illicit fentanyl into the U.S. These enforcement teams are based in communities facing some of the most significant challenges with heroin and fentanyl.
In 2017, the DEA held two of its National Prescription Drug Takeback Days, when people can dispose of unnecessary and potentially dangerous drugs with no questions asked. In total, DEA took more than 900 tons of drugs out of American communities.
In November, I ordered each of our 94 U.S. Attorney offices to designate an opioid coordinator—someone to customize our anti-opioid strategy in each district.
Last month, I announced a new resource to target traffickers who sell drugs online called J-CODE: Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement team. The J-CODE team will coordinate efforts across the FBI’s offices all around the world – bringing together DEA, our Safe Streets Task Forces, drug trafficking task forces, Health Care Fraud Special Agents, and other assets – effectively doubling the FBI’s investment into fighting against online drug trafficking.
Also last month, I announced a 45-day surge of DEA Special Agents, Diversion Investigators, and Intelligence Research Specialists to focus on pharmacies and prescribers who are dispensing unusual or disproportionate amounts of drugs.
Earlier this month, the DEA placed all fentanyl analogues not already regulated by the Controlled Substances Act into Schedule I – the category for substances with no currently accepted medical use – for at least two years. This makes it harder for people to acquire illicit fentanyl and easier for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute drug traffickers.
Today, I am announcing our next steps.
First of all, the Department has hired an experienced federal prosecutor to lead our anti-opioid efforts: Mary Daly.
Mary previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York and the Eastern District of Virginia, where she supervised the Narcotics unit and was the opioid coordinator. Over her 13 years as a federal prosecutor, Mary has focused on the prosecution of transnational drug trafficking organizations.
Mary will serve as Director of Opioid Enforcement and Prevention Efforts. She will help us formulate and implement initiatives, policies, grants, and programs relating to opioids, and coordinate these efforts with law enforcement.
Second, we are attacking this crisis at its root: the diversion and overprescription of opioid painkillers. Today I am announcing the Prescription Interdiction & Litigation—or PIL—Task Force. The PIL Task Force will focus in particular on targeting opioid manufacturers and distributors who have contributed to this epidemic.
We will use criminal penalties. We will use civil penalties. We will use whatever tools we have to hold people accountable for breaking our laws.
The Task Force will work closely with the Department of Health and Human Services, and it will coordinate with law enforcement at all levels.
The Task Force will examine potential legislative and regulatory changes in existing laws.
I am also ordering the Task Force to examine existing state and local government lawsuits against opioid manufacturers to determine if we can be of assistance.
In fact, we are already getting involved in these cases. I am announcing today that the Department will file a statement of interest in a lawsuit against a number of opioid manufacturers and distributors for allegedly using false, deceptive, and unfair marketing of opioid drugs.
The federal government has borne substantial costs as a result of the opioid crisis. The Medicare prescription drug program, for example, paid more than $4 billion for opioids in 2016.
The hard-working taxpayers of this country deserve to be compensated by those whose illegal activity contributed to those costs. And we will go to court to ensure that the American people receive the compensation they deserve.
These are not our last steps. We will continue to attack the opioid crisis from every angle. And we will continue to work tirelessly to bring down the number of opioid prescriptions, reduce the number of fatal overdoses, and to protect the American people.
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Feb 27, 2018 | DOJ
Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced the creation of a new effort, the Department of Justice Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (PIL) Task Force, to fight the prescription opioid crisis. The PIL Task Force will aggressively deploy and coordinate all available criminal and civil law enforcement tools to reverse the tide of opioid overdoses in the United States, with a particular focus on opioid manufacturers and distributors.
“Over the past year, the Department has vigorously fought the prescription opioid crisis, and we are determined to continue making progress. Today, we are opening a new front in the war on the opioid crisis by bringing all of our anti-opioid efforts under one banner,” said Attorney General Sessions. “We have no time to waste. Every day, 180 Americans die from drug overdoses. This epidemic actually lowered American life expectancy in 2015 and 2016 for the first time in decades, with drug overdose now the leading cause of death for Americans under age 50. These are not acceptable trends and this new task force will make us more effective in reversing them and saving Americans from the scourge of opioid addiction.”
The PIL Task Force will include senior officials from the offices of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, and the Associate Attorney General, as well as senior officials from the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the Civil Division, the Criminal Division, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Task Force will coordinate the Department’s many efforts and tools to combat the opioid epidemic.
The PIL Task Force will combat the opioid crisis at every level of the distribution system. At the manufacturer level, the PIL Task Force will use all available criminal and civil remedies available under federal law to hold opioid manufacturers accountable for unlawful practices. The PIL Task Force will build on and strengthen existing Department of Justice initiatives to ensure that opioid manufacturers are marketing their products truthfully and in accordance with Food and Drug Administration rules.
The Attorney General has also directed the PIL Task Force to examine existing state and local government lawsuits against opioid manufacturers to determine what assistance, if any, federal law can provide in those lawsuits. The federal government has borne substantial costs from the opioid crisis, and it must be compensated by any party whose illegal activity contributed to those costs.
The Department will also use all criminal and civil tools at its disposal to hold distributors such as pharmacies, pain management clinics, drug testing facilities, and individual physicians accountable for unlawful actions.
The PIL Task Force will use criminal and civil actions to ensure that distributors and pharmacies are obeying Drug Enforcement Administration rules designed to prevent diversion and improper prescribing. It will use the False Claims Act and other tools to crack down on pain-management clinics, drug testing facilities, and physicians that make opioid prescriptions.
The PIL Task Force will use the criminal and civil tools available under the Controlled Substances Act against doctors, pharmacies, and others that break the law. The PIL Task Force will build upon and expand the efforts of the existing Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit. Created in August 2017, the Unit uses sophisticated data analysis to identify and prosecute individuals who are contributing to the opioid epidemic, including pill-mill schemes and pharmacies that unlawfully divert or dispense prescription opioids for illegitimate purposes.
The PIL Task Force will also work closely with the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and hold accountable any parties who engage in illegal activity surrounding prescription opioids. The Attorney General has directed the PIL Task Force to establish immediately a working group to: (1) improve coordination and data sharing across the federal government to better identify violations of law and patterns of fraud related to the opioid epidemic; (2) evaluate possible changes to the regulatory regime governing opioid distribution; and (3) recommend changes in laws.
This new Task Force will build on a number of new initiatives begun by Attorney General Sessions over the past year that will help us end the drug crisis, including the following:In July, the Attorney General announced charges against more than 120 defendants, including doctors, for crimes related to prescribing or distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics. One week later, the Attorney General announced the seizure of AlphaBay, the largest criminal marketplace on the Internet. This site hosted some 220,000 drug listings – including more than 100 vendors advertising fentanyl – and was responsible for countless synthetic opioid overdoses, including the tragic death of a 13-year old in Utah. In August, the Attorney General created the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit, a new data analytics program to help find evidence of overprescribing and opioid-related health care fraud. The Attorney General then assigned 12 experienced Assistant United States Attorneys to opioid “hot-spots” to focus solely on investigating and prosecuting opioid-related health care fraud. By November they had begun issuing indictments. In October, the Department announced the first-ever indictments of Chinese nationals and their North American-based traffickers and distributers for separate conspiracies to distribute fentanyl and other opioids in the United States. Also in October, the DEA announced the establishment of six new enforcement teams focused on combatting the flow of heroin and illicit fentanyl into the U.S. These enforcement teams are based in communities facing some of the most significant challenges with heroin and fentanyl. In 2017, the DEA held two of its National Prescription Drug Takeback Days, when people can dispose of unnecessary and potentially dangerous drugs with no questions asked. In total, DEA took a record 956 tons of drugs out of American communities. In January 2018, the Department announced a new resource to target traffickers who sell drugs online called J-CODE: Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement team. The J-CODE team will coordinate efforts across the FBI’s offices all around the world – bringing together DEA, our Safe Streets Task Forces, drug trafficking task forces, Health Care Fraud Special Agents, and other assets – effectively doubling the FBI’s investment into fighting against online drug trafficking. Also in January 2018, the DEA announced a 45-day surge of Special Agents, Diversion Investigators, and Intelligence Research Specialists to focus on pharmacies and prescribers who are dispensing unusual or disproportionate amounts of drugs. On February 7, 2018, the DEA placed all fentanyl analogues not already regulated by the Controlled Substances Act into Schedule I – the category for substances with no currently accepted medical use – for at least two years. This makes it harder for people to acquire illicit fentanyl and easier for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute drug traffickers. The Department anticipates filing a statement of interest in the coming days in a multi-district action regarding hundreds of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
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Justice Dept. to target opioid manufacturers, distributors in new push to curb deadly epidemic
Feb 27, 2018 | Washington Post
By Lenny Bernstein, Katie Zezima and Sari Horwitz
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday creation of a new task force focused specifically on targeting opioid manufacturers and distributors, and holding them accountable for unlawful practices.
The Justice Department also filed a statement of interest in a case involving hundreds of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors. Sessions said the Justice Department will argue that the federal government has borne substantial costs from the opioid epidemic and it seeks reimbursement. The case includes numerous cities, municipalities and medical institutions.
“Opioid abuse is driving the deadliest drug crisis in American history,” said Sessions at a news conference with several U.S. attorneys. “It has strained our public health and law enforcement resources and bankrupted countless families across this country.
Sessions’s announcement is part of a flurry of activity this week at the White House, on Capitol Hill, in a U.S. courthouse and elsewhere that may mark the beginning of an intensified federal effort to address the uncontrolled drug epidemic sweeping the country.
States and cities have suffered the brunt of the cost and carnage of the drug crisis, which killed more than 64,000 people in 2016 and is straining local emergency and health services. About two-thirds of the overdose deaths were caused by opioids, in particular illicit fentanyl.
This week, the White House is holding a summit on the drug crisis, hearings on eight House bills are beginning on Capitol Hill and the Secretary of Health and Human Services has embraced the expansion of medically assisted drug treatment — in contrast to his predecessor.
In Ohio, a federal judge overseeing hundreds of lawsuits against drug companies may rule by Monday on whether the Drug Enforcement Administration must give plaintiffs and defendants years of data on prescription opioid painkillers that were poured into communities across the country. Overprescribing by doctors and that uncontrolled supply of pills are widely blamed for the start of the epidemic.
President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a “health emergency” in October, but cities overwhelmed by the crisis have complained that there has been little action or money from Washington in the months since.
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U.S. to file 'statement of interest' in lawsuits against opioid makers, distributors
Feb 27, 2018 | Reuters
By Staff
The federal government will seek reimbursement from major drug companies and distributors to recover costs it has borne from the opioid epidemic, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Washington would side with states, cities and other plaintiffs in litigation that accuses the drug makers of deceptively marketing opioids and alleges that distributors ignored red flags indicating the painkillers were being diverted for improper uses.
In 2016, the last year with publicly available data, 42,000 people died from opioid overdoses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the latest step by the Justice Department to tackle the opioid epidemic, the department said it would file a "statement of interest" in litigation consolidated in a federal court in Cleveland.
Named in the litigation are opioid manufacturers Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Endo International PLC and Allergan PLC and the three biggest drug distributors in the country - AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp..
Representatives for the eight companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The consolidated litigation pending before U.S. District Judge Dan Polster involves at least 355 lawsuits filed by cities, counties and others.
Polster has been pushing for a quick, global settlement in the litigation and has invited state attorneys general who have cases in state courts or who are conducting a multistate probe of the companies to participate in those talks.
The first settlement hearing was held in January. A second one is expected March on 6.
The Justice Department is not expected to participate in the settlement discussions. Its statement of interest in the litigation will allow it to eventually get a share of the final settlement the companies pay.
Plaintiffs' lawyers have not quantified the potential costs involved in the cases but have compared them with the litigation by states against the tobacco industry that led to 1998's $246 billion settlement.
Also on Tuesday, Sessions announced the creation of a task force to combat the opioid crisis by seeking criminal and civil remedies and said he had appointed a federal prosecutor to lead the government's battle.
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DOJ to support lawsuits against companies selling opioids
Feb 27, 2018 | Associated Press
By Sadie Gurman & Geoff Mulvihill
The Justice Department said Tuesday it will support local officials in hundreds of lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors of powerful opioid painkillers that are fueling the nation's drug abuse crisis.
The move is part of a broader effort to more aggressively target prescription drugmakers for their role in the epidemic, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. The Justice Department will file a statement of interest in the multidistrict lawsuit, arguing the federal government has borne substantial costs as a result of the crisis that claimed more than 64,000 lives in 2016.
The Trump administration has said it is focusing intensely on fighting drug addiction, but critics say its efforts fall short of what is needed. Trump signed off this month on a bipartisan budget deal to provide a record $6 billion over the next two years to fight opioids, but it's not yet decided how that will be allocated.
The statement of interest was the latest move by the Justice Department, which has also sought to crack down on black market drug peddlers and doctors who negligently prescribe.
It could increase the role of the federal government in talks aimed at reaching a settlement between government entities, drugmakers, distributors and others. A federal judge in Cleveland is overseeing the talks as an attempt to resolve the case rather than hold a trial involving more than 370 plaintiffs, mostly county and local governments. The talks also include a group of about 40 states that are conducting a joint investigation of the crisis but which have not yet sued, as well as states that have sued in state courts.
Any deal could include billions of dollars in payments that could be used for treatment programs, abuse prevention and to cover some of the costs incurred by government dealing with the crisis. A filing could also put the federal government in line to receive some of the payouts in a deal. But any settlement is not likely to cover the cost of the crisis. A White House report last year estimated the annual cost at about $500 billion, including deaths, health care, lost productivity and criminal justice costs.
"It's a game-changer," Ohio's attorney general Mike DeWine said of the Justice Department's involvement. "It's a real realization of what has been going on."
The latest effort by the Justice Department targets powerful, but legal, prescription painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin, which have been widely blamed for ushering in the drug crisis. But prescribing of those drugs has been falling since 2011 due to policies by government, medical and law enforcement officials designed to reverse years of overprescribing.
The majority of opioid deaths now involve illegal drugs, especially the ultra-potent opioid fentanyl. Deaths tied to those fentanyl and related drugs doubled in 2016, to more than 19,000, dragging down Americans' life expectancy for the second year in a row.
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Justice Department to join wave of state, city lawsuits against opioid makers, Sessions says
Feb 27, 2018 | NBC News
By Jon Schuppe
The Justice Department on Tuesday joined an escalating effort to squeeze money from companies who made the prescription painkillers that fueled America's opioid crisis, saying it would back lawsuits by hundreds of cities, states and other local governments that accuse the manufacturers of fooling the public into thinking the drugs were safe.
The support comes in the form of a "statement of interest" ─ a brief from the Justice Department that will outline what the crisis has cost the federal government, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a news conference while standing with attorneys general from seven states.
Sessions said that one federal Medicare program paid out more than $4 billion in opioid-related costs in 2016.
"The hardworking taxpayers of this country deserve to be compensated by any whose illegal activity contributed to these costs, and we will go to court to ensure the American people receive the compensation they deserve," Sessions said.
The brief will presumably be filed in federal court in Cleveland, where U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster is overseeing hundreds of lawsuits against opioid makers, a case that could result in a massive settlement similar to states' 1998 settlement with the major tobacco companies.
Justice Department spokespersons did not return requests for comment on on what the brief would say, or where it would be filed.
Rebecca Haffajee, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health who tracks the opioid lawsuits, said that the Justice Department's statement of interest doesn't make the federal government a party to the negotiations, but could influence Polster and put pressure on the drug companies to settle.
"It's also a way for the Trump administration to counter some criticism that it's not doing enough," Haffajee said.
Indeed, the statement of interest was one in a long list of items Sessions cited as proof the administration is fighting the opioid scourge.
He went over a series of criminal cases and initiatives, and announced the appointment of a federal prosecutor, Mary Daly, to lead the Justice Department's director of opioid enforcement and prevention efforts.
Sessions also said the DOJ was forming another task force, aimed at targeting drug makers and distributors that "have contributed to this epidemic."
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions makes announcement on opioid policy
Feb 27, 2018 | CBS News
By Emily Tillett
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has unveiled the Department of Justice's latest task force as part of Sessions' ongoing campaign to combat the nation's crippling opioid epidemic. The Prescription Interdiction and Litigation Task Force, or PILS, aims to target opioid manufacturers and distributors who have contributed to the epidemic.
Sessions said through criminal and civil penalties, "whatever laws and tools we have" will be used to "hold people accountable if they break our laws."
The effort will have DOJ officials working closely with HHS as well as law enforcement officials at all levels to examine potential legislative and regulatory changes in existing laws.
According to the DOJ, the tasks force will include senior officials from the offices of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, and the Associate Attorney General, as well as senior officials from the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the Civil Division, the Criminal Division, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Sessions said he is ordering the group to "examine existing state and lawsuits on manufacturers to determine where we can be of assistance."
The DOJ will also file a Statement of Interest in a multi-state lawsuit against number of opioid manufactures and distributors for allegedly using false and deceptive marketing for opioid drugs.
CBS News' Paula Reid reports that the DOJ is seeking to receive reimbursement for the costs it has incurred in the fight against opioids from any settlement reached in this case.
The plaintiffs include numerous cities, municipalities, and medical institutions that have borne the costs of the prescription opioid crisis, according to a statement from the DOJ. The Justice Department will primarily argue that the federal government--through various federal health programs and law enforcement efforts--has borne substantial costs from the opioid epidemic and seeks reimbursement.
"We will go to court to ensure the American people will see the compensation they deserve," Sessions said.
He said the DOJ will continue to attack the opioid crisis from "every angle" and bring down the number of prescriptions on the market today, including filing lawsuits for damages on behalf of victims.
Sessions added that the Department would be looking to see what other civil and criminal action they can take to stop drug manufactures and distributors, including the ability to pull professionals licenses if they're not complying with the law.
He also took Tuesday's announcement to announce the hiring of Mary Daly as the DOJ's Opioid Coordinator to lead the department's anti-opioid efforts. Daly previosuly served as a U.S. Attorney in New York and Virginia where she supervised narcotics units.
In an effort to curb the nation's crippling epidemic, Sessions has since unveiled efforts including increased funding and manpower for state and local law enforcement partners, a pilot program focused specifically on opioid-related health care fraud and more aggressive prosecution of opioid-related drug crimes.
Sessions has said that fighting the opioid epidemic is a priority of the Trump administration, as well as his Justice Department.Sessions says DOJ can pull licenses
Sessions said the Department is looking to see what other civil and criminal action they can take to stop drug manufactures and distributors, including the ability to pull professionals licenses if they're not complying with the law.
He said the DEA and DOJ can file a lawsuit to pull licenses of any group or pharmacy violating the law as well as potentially file lawsuits for damages.State AGs talk opioid epidemic
State attorneys general take the podium, thanking the Trump administration for their efforts in combatting the opioid crisis, offering their own perspective of the deadly impacts on their own statesSessions announces next steps in opioid battle
Sessions announced that he has hired Mary Daly as the DOJ's Opioid Coordinator to lead the department's anti-opioid efforts. Daly previosuly served as a U.S. Attorney in New York and Virginia where she supervised narcotics units.
He then unveiled the DOJ's latest task force to target opioid manufacturers and distributors who have contributed to the epidemic.
Sessions says through criminal and civil penalties "whatever laws and tools we have" will be used to "hold people accountable if they break our laws."
The effort will have DOJ officials working closely with HHS and law enforcement officials at all levels and will aim to examine potential legislative and regulatory changes in existing laws.
Sessions said he is ordering the task force to "examine existing state and lawsuits on manufacturers to determine where we can be of assistance."
DOJ will also file statement of interest in a lawsuit against number of opioid manufactures and distributors for allegedly using false and deceptive marketing for opioid drugs
"We will go to court to ensure the American people will see the compensation they deserve," Sessions said.
He said the DOJ will continue to attack the opioid crisis from "every angle" and bring down the number of prescriptions on the market today.Sessions on opioid crisis
Sessions said 2017 was "worse maybe not so large" but still an increase in opioid-related deaths than the year prior.
"President Trump has made ending this crisis a priority for his administration and taken action from the beginning of his administraiton," he said.
Sessions highlights the administration's successes in creating enforcement teams, prosecuting opioid-related crimes and cracking down on purchases of opioids on the dark web.Sessions takes podium
AG Jeff Sessions thanks the state attorneys general for coming. He says each of them has made committing opioid abuse a priority and shone outstanding leadership.
He calls White House aid Kellyanne Conway a great "force" in the administration's efforts to combat opioid abuse.
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Feb 27, 2018 | CNBC
By Dan Mangan
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday said a new task force will target the makers and distributors of prescription painkillers who have contributed to an epidemic of fatal overdoses from opioids by selling too much of the addictive drugs.
"We will use criminal penalties, we will use civil penalties," said Sessions in announcing the Prescription Interdiction and Litigation (PIL) Task Force.
"We will use whatever laws and tools we have to hold people accountable if they break our laws," said Sessions, who also said that opioid abuse is "driving the deadliest drug crisis in American history."
Sessions said he is ordering the task force "to examine existing state and local government lawsuits against opioid manufacturers to determine if we can be of assistance."
"In fact, we are already getting involved in these cases. I am announcing today that the department will file a statement of interest in a lawsuit against a number of opioid manufacturers and distributors for allegedly using false, deceptive, and unfair marketing of opioid drugs," Sessions said.
The Justice Department said that lawsuit is actually a multidistrict action involving hundreds of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The plaintiffs include many cities, municipalities, and medical institutions "that have borne the costs of the prescription opioid crisis," the department said. "The plaintiffs seek to recover the costs associated with providing treatment and public safety measures relating to the opioid epidemic from those who allegedly used false, deceptive, or unfair marketing practices for prescription opioid drugs.
"The Justice Department will primarily argue that the federal government — through various federal health programs and law enforcement efforts — has borne substantial costs from the opioid epidemic and seeks reimbursement."Sessions made the announcement at the Justice Department during a new conference attended by a handful of state attorneys general.
Also in attendance was Kellyanne Conway, a senior advisor to President Donald Trump, who is in charge of the White House's campaign to stem opioid abuse.
He noted that 2016 had seen the highest number of fatal drug overdoses by far in United States history, an estimated 64,000. And 2017 is expected to have recorded even more such deaths, Sessions said.
Most of those deadly ODs are related to opioids, either prescription painkillers, synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, or heroin, the illegal street drug.
The attorney general said a veteran federal prosecutor, Mary Daly, has been hired to lead the Justice Department's anti-opioid efforts.
Daly, who held prosecutor posts in Brooklyn, New York, and in Virginia, has expertise in fighting transnational drug trafficking groups.
Session said, "These are not our last steps."
"We will continue to attack the opioid crisis from every angle," he said. "And we will continue to work tirelessly to bring down the number of opioid prescriptions, reduce the number of fatal overdoses, and to protect the American people."
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Sessions Says DOJ to Backstop States' Efforts to Hold Big Pharma Liable in Opioid Crisis
Feb 27, 2018 | National Law Journal
By Max Mitchell
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced a new initiative to bolster state efforts to combat the growing opioid crisis.
Flanked by a bipartisan group of state attorneys general, Sessions outlined plans to create a new litigation-oriented task force within the Department of Justice to pursue claims against opioid manufacturers and distributors. Sessions also announced that the department plans to file a statement of interest in a multidistrict litigation supporting efforts by state and local governments to hold several drug companies accountable for alleged false and deceptive marketing that played a key role in the opioid crisis.
“We will use criminal penalties. We will use civil penalties. We will use whatever tools we have to hold people accountable for breaking our laws,” Sessions said during a press conference Tuesday.
Several attorneys general, including Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, thanked Sessions for the renewed efforts.
“Fundamentally, I believe collaboration is key. The states need more resources, and the Department of Justice has stepped up,” Shapiro said. “When four out of every five heroin users start with a legal prescription drug, the supply chain runs directly to these opioid manufacturers. It runs directly to the opioid distributors.”
Shapiro, a Democrat, is one of 41 attorneys general who are pursuing several drugmakers and distributors for their alleged role in the opioid crisis, which, Sessions said, has cost the country an estimated $1 trillion since 2001 and $115 billion in 2017.
State Attorney General Mike DeWine of Ohio, the state where nearly 200 opioid-related lawsuits have been consolidated in a federal district court, said the DOJ’s decision to issue a statement of interest supporting the state and local municipalities’ efforts is “a game-changer.”
“The experts tell us that 80 percent of the people who were addicted to opiates today started with pain meds,” said DeWine, a Republican. “That’s why your action today, frankly, makes us very happy, and it’s a real realization of what’s been going on.”
The new efforts include the creation of the Prescription Interdiction and Litigation, or PIL, task force, which, according to Sessions, will work with the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate law enforcement efforts targeting opioid manufacturers and distributors, and will review existing laws for possible legislative and regulatory changes.
Sessions’ announcement comes as litigation continues to mount against drugmakers over their alleged role in the unfolding opioid crisis. Along with the multidistrict litigation, municipalities have continued to file new lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies seeking to recoup costs they claim to have shouldered in combating the opioid crisis.
Since the start of 2018, both Philadelphia and the city’s district attorney have each filed lawsuits targeting opioid manufacturers, making similar arguments that the drug companies violated fair trade practices by aggressively marketing the highly addictive drugs.
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AG Jeff Sessions: Feds will support states, local governments on opioid lawsuits
Feb 27, 2018 | Pitssburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
By Rich Lord
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday announced that the Department of Justice will weigh in on the side of the growing number of states and other governments that are suing the makers and distributors of prescription opioids.
"The department will file a statement of interest in a lawsuit against a number of opioid manufacturers and distributors” that are accused of deceptive marketing of their painkillers, Mr. Sessions said, adding that Medicare paid out $4 billion for opioids in 2016 alone. That doesn’t include the vast public funds spent contending with costs related to addictions to illicit drugs, many spurred by prescriptions, he said.
"Over the next three years, this crisis will cost another half trillion dollars,” he said.
"We will go to court to ensure that the American people receive the compensation that they deserve."
Mr. Sessions spoke at a press conference at the Robert F. Kennedy Main Justice Building in Washington, D.C., flanked by state attorneys general including Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro.
"I believe that these opioid painkillers have been the jet fuel to this crisis,” said Mr. Shapiro. He said that in an average day, 15 Pennsylvanians die of drug overdoses.
"As we're doing this work, we have to focus on the supply chain,” he continued. "The supply chain runs directly to these opioid manufacturers, runs directly to these opioid distributors."
"People get addicted to the pain meds. They move from there, because of price sometimes and availability, to heroin. And then from heroin to fentanyl, and carfentanil and other things,” said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
The federal statement of interest is "a game changer, and is very, very significant.”
"We think there are just too many" opioid prescriptions, said Mr. Sessions. He said a new Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (PIL) Task Force will work with the Department of Health and Human Services and law enforcement to target the opioid makers and distributors.
"We will use criminal penalties. We will use civil penalties,” he said.
Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh are close to deciding whether to join the hundreds of governments that have sued the opioid manufacturers and pharmaceutical distributors. Most of the surrounding counties have already filed suits.
Many of the lawsuits filed to date have been consolidated into the federal court in Cleveland run by U.S. District Judge Dan A. Polster.
The lawsuits generally allege that the companies falsely claimed that the likelihood of a patient developing an addiction to prescribed opioids was very low, then aggressively marketed them for all manner of aches and pains. Many addicted patients later turned to heroin and illicit fentanyl. The result, according to the lawsuits, include increased costs for law enforcement, courts, human services and rehabilitation.
Mr. Shapiro has been a leader of a group of 41 state prosecutors who are jointly investigating the opioid industry. They have subpoenaed millions of pages of industry documents, and hope to recover funds on behalf of state and local governments.
Mr. Sessions also announced the appointment of former federal prosecutor Mary Daly to the post of opioid coordinator at the Department of Justice.
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Justice Department will back lawsuits against drug makers for contributing to opioid epidemic
Feb 27, 2018 | Washington Examiner
By Kelly Cohen
The Department of Justice plans to support lawsuits against drug manufacturers and distributors that have contributed to the opioid epidemic.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the announcement Tuesday afternoon, and said the department will file a statement of interest in support of plaintiffs suing opioid manufacturers and distributors “for allegedly using false, deceptive, and unfair marketing of opioid drugs.”
“Opioid abuse is driving the deadliest drug crisis in American history,” Sessions said. “The Department of Justice is committed to using every lawful tool at our disposal to turn the tide. We will seek to hold accountable those whose illegality has cost us billions of taxpayer dollars.”
According to the Justice Department, the statement of interest will be "in a multi-district action regarding hundreds of lawsuits." No other details were provided.
Sessions told reporters the Justice Department is also looking at “what other civil actions” it can take.
In 2016, more than 100 people in the U.S. died daily from opioid-related drug overdoes, and roughly 11.5 million people misused prescription opioids. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the opioid crisis cost more than $500 billion in 2016.
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Justice seeks reimbursement from manufacturers, distributors for opioid crisis
Feb 27, 2018 | The Hill
By Rachel Roubein
The Department of Justice is filing a statement of interest in the opioid lawsuits against distributors and manufacturers, arguing that the federal government should be reimbursed for the significant costs it has borne from the crisis.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the statement of interest, arguing American taxpayers deserved compensation.
“The hard-working taxpayers of this country deserve to be compensated by those whose illegal activity contributed to those costs,” Sessions said at a press conference. “And we will go to court to ensure that the American people receive the compensation they deserve.”
The statement will be filed in the multi-district litigation that has brought together hundreds of opioid lawsuits from cities and municipalities. The litigation is being overseen by a federal judge, Dan Polster, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Manufacturers and distributors have been blamed by some for fueling the prescription painkiller and heroin epidemic. The rate of overdose deaths is increasing, jumping nearly 28 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Sessions also announced the creation of the Prescription Interdiction and Litigation (PIL) Task Force, which will have a particular focus on targeting opioid manufacturers and distributors that could be contributing to the epidemic.
“We will use criminal penalties. We will use civil penalties,” Sessions said. “We will use whatever tools we have to hold people accountable for breaking our laws.”
The task force will also examine the lawsuits brought by state and local governments “to determine if we can be of assistance,” he said.
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Feb 27, 2018 | STAT News
By Lev Facher
The Department of Justice will ramp up its investigations of opioid manufacturers and distributors and weigh in on a number of state lawsuits, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Tuesday, ahead of an “opioids summit” to be held at the White House later this week.
Sessions, in addition to announcing new staffing and the creation of a task force aimed at distributors and manufacturers, said the department will submit a statement of interest “in a lawsuit against a number of opioid manufacturers and distributors for allegedly using false, deceptive, and unfair marketing of opioid drugs.”
A long list of manufacturers, including Purdue, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Insys, Janssen, and Teva, have faced scrutiny and often aggressive legal action from state and local governments seeking compensation for what many plaintiffs allege are the costs resulting from the companies’ disingenuous marketing tactics.
Sessions’ decision to add DOJ’s clout to the legal actions against manufacturers and distributors comes after a year of enforcement-side actions from the administration, including crackdowns on fentanyl importation and a broader crackdown on opioid dealer and distribution networks across the country.
“The hard-working taxpayers of this country deserve to be compensated by those whose illegal activity contributed to those costs,” Sessions said. “And we will go to court to ensure that the American people receive the compensation they deserve.”
Sessions’ decision to enter the fray is particularly noteworthy in light of the withdrawal of Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) as President Trump’s nominee for “drug czar.” Marino withdrew after reports revealed his role in legislating diminished enforcement powers for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
President Trump has still not nominated a new DEA director, and only recently nominated a replacement for Marino at the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The news comes amid a wider flurry of activity on the opioid crisis. Sessions is attending a White House event on Thursday at which he and other administration officials will tout recent activity. Bipartisan efforts on Capitol Hill have also allocated money in future budgets and unveiled an aggressive new billaimed at addiction treatment and prevention.
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Sessions announces PIL task force to combat opioid epidemic
Feb 27, 2018 | Register Herald (WV)
By Wendy Holdren
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced during a Tuesday press conference a new task force dedicated to fighting the opioid epidemic.
Specifically, the Prescription Interdiction and Litigation (PIL) Task Force will target drug manufacturers and distributors through both criminal and civil penalties.
Sessions said the Justice Department will examine current state and local government lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors to see how they can help.
He said he also hopes to see legislative and regulatory changes that can help support the work of the task force.
State attorneys general from Ohio, West Virginia, Arkansas, Utah, Texas, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania joined Sessions for the announcement.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey spoke of how West Virginia has been particularly hard hit.
He said the state is taking a multi-faceted approach to combatting the opioid epidemic, as it is a multi-faceted problem.
He also underscored the continued need for treatment in the Mountain State, which has the highest drug overdose death rate in the nation.
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Justice Dept. to target opioid makers, distributors
Feb 27, 2018 | The Washington Times
By Jeff Mordock
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has created a new task force to target the manufacturers and distributors of prescription painkillers that have contributed to an epidemic of opioid overdoses.
The Prescription Interdiction and Litigation, or PIL Task Force, will review all civil and criminal penalties available to pursue charges against opioid producers for any illegal activity. It will also examine regulatory and legislative changes to reduce the number of opioid deaths across the United States.
Mr. Sessions said the task force could pull the licenses of any pharmacist or physician who illegally prescribes opioids.
“We will use whatever laws and tools we have to hold people accountable if they break our laws,” Mr. Sessions said Tuesday afternoon during a press conference attended by attorneys general from seven states.
The attorneys general from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia — states that have been ravaged by the opioid crisis — spoke out about the need for a task force.
Kellyanne Conway, who is overseeing the White House’s efforts to fight opioid abuse, was also in attendance.
Mr. Sessions said the task force is looking at existing state and government lawsuits against opioid manufactures to see if the Justice Department can be of assistance.
In fact, the Justice Department is already involved in one such case. On Tuesday, it filed a statement of interest in a multi-district lawsuit against hundreds of opioid manufacturers and distributors for using false, deceptive and unfair claims to market opioid drugs.
The plaintiffs include numerous cities, municipalities and medical institutions that have born “substantial costs” associated with treating and fighting the opioid crisis. The Justice Department will primarily argue that those costs are ultimately borne by the federal government and seek reimbursement.
Medicare’s prescription drug plan paid out more than $4 billion for opioids in 2016, and the opioid crisis cost the country $115 billion overall last year, Mr. Sessions said.
“The hardworking taxpayers of this country deserve to be compensated for any illegal activity that has contributed to these costs,” he said. “And we will go to court to ensure the American people receive the compensation they deserve.”
In 2016, there were 64,000 fatal drug overdoses in the United States, the highest number ever recorded. Preliminary data indicates that 2017 will even more overdose deaths, Mr. Sessions said. Most of the deaths are related to opioids, including prescription painkillers, illegal drugs such as heroin and synthetic products such as fentanyl.
Mr. Sessions also introduced Mary Daly, who had been hired to lead the Justice Department’s war against opioids. A veteran federal prosecutor, Ms. Daly worked in New York and Virginia fighting transnational drug trafficking organizations.
The attorney general vowed to continue the fight against opioid deaths, signaling more announcements in the future.
“These are not our last steps,” he said. “We will continue to attack the opioid crisis from every angle.”
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Sessions targets opioid manufacturers with new task force
Feb 27, 2018 | United Press International
By Danielle Haynes
The Justice Department has formed a new task force to target drug manufacturers and distributors that have contributed to the nation's opioid crisis, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday, the third such team he has created to tackle the epidemic.
Speaking in Washington, D.C., the nation's top law enforcement official said the Prescription Interdiction & Litigation Task Force, or PIL, would examine possible legislative and regulatory changes in existing laws in order to halt the unlawful spread of opioids.
"We will use criminal penalties. We will use civil penalties. We will use whatever tools we have to hold people accountable for breaking our laws," Sessions said.
The task force is part of the Trump administration's effort to crack down on opioid abuse, which Sessions said killed an estimated 64,000 Americans in 2016, and likely killed more in 2017. In October, President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency and increased funding to a number of federal agencies tasked with fighting the "human tragedy."
PIL is the third opioid-related team Sessions has created over the past several months, including one he started less than a month ago to fight opioid trafficking on the Internet. The Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement team will have the the power to shut down online marketplaces that traffickers use.
In July, one of the largest "darknet" Internet sites used to sell illegal drugs and contraband was shut down. AlphaBay housed more than 250,000 listings for illegal narcotics via cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, that help users remain anonymous. The founder of the site was arrested in Thailand.
In August, Sessions created the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection unit, which tasked 12 federal prosecutors with tackling opioid-related healthcare fraud.
Sessions said Tuesday that by November, these prosecutors had begun issuing indictments. One such indictment charged a Las Vegas doctor with 29 counts of unlawful distribution of fentanyl and healthcare fraud. The U.S. Attorney's Office accused Dr. Steven Holper of prescribing a form of fentanyl called Subsys to a patient without legitimate legal purpose.
In addition to creating PIL on Tuesday, Sessions announced the appointment of Mary Daly, a former U.S. attorney, as director of Opioid Enforcement and Prevention Efforts. He also said the Justice Department is expected to file a statement of interest in a lawsuit against a number of opioid manufacturers and distributors for allegedly using false, deceptive and unfair marketing of opioid drugs.
"The federal government has borne substantial costs as a result of the opioid crisis. The Medicare prescription drug program, for example, paid more than $4 billion for opioids in 2016," Sessions said.
"The hard-working taxpayers of this country deserve to be compensated by those whose illegal activity contributed to those costs. And we will go to court to ensure that the American people receive the compensation they deserve."
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DeWine hails Sessions’ targeting of opioid makers, distributors
Feb 27, 2018 | The Columbus Dispatch (OH)
By Jack Torry
Joined by “my old friend Mike DeWine of Ohio,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday the Justice Department will “target” manufacturers and distributors of opioids who have contributed to the epidemic sweeping Ohio and other states.
At a Justice Department news conference, Sessions announced a new federal task force not only will seek to bring civil and criminal charges against manufacturers, but also would “examine existing state and local government lawsuits against opioid manufacturers to determine where we can be of assistance.”
DeWine, the state attorney general and a candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, described Sessions’ decision to “file as a party of interest” to lawsuits initiated by Ohio and 13 other states as “a game changer.”
The campaign of Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, who is running against DeWine for the GOP nomination, denounced DeWine’s appearance with Sessions as a “photo-op,” and charged as attorney general DeWine has a “poor record” curbing opiate abuse.
David Pepper, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, charged Sessions and DeWine are “both hyper-partisan culture warriors, have outdated notions on how to handle the scourge of addiction, and as we see from the explosion of overdoses in Ohio over DeWine’s tenure as attorney general, have been utterly inept in fighting this crisis.”
The announcement took place just one day after DeWine’s office filed suit against Cardinal Health of Dublin and three other drug distributors, charging the companies “ignored their duties as drug distributors to ensure that opioids were not being diverted for improper use.”
Although Sessions was joined by seven state attorneys generals — only one of whom was a Democrat — the event clearly was designed to highlight DeWine’s role in combating opioids.
DeWine said “experts tell us that 80 percent of the people who are addicted to opiates today started with pain meds. And that’s why your action today, frankly, makes us very happy.”
Ellen Barry, a Cardinal spokesman, said Monday the Ohio lawsuit was “unfounded” and that Cardinal Health “has been cooperating constructively in a good faith effort to alleviate this public health crisis and save lives.”
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Justice officials, Pa. attorney general talk about latest actions in opioid fight
Feb 27, 2018 | The Morning Call (PA)
By Laura Olsen
The U.S. Department of Justice is launching a new task force targeting opioid manufacturers and distributors, as well as weighing in on legal action against a number of those companies, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday afternoon.
Sessions said the opioid crisis has created substantial costs as it has claimed lives — projecting the public health crisis will cost a half-trillion dollars over the next three years.
The agency will submit a statement of interest in a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors over deceptive marketing practices, and will seek reimbursement on those costs. Sessions said Medicare spent $4 billion on opioid prescriptions in 2016 alone.
“Hard-working taxpayers deserve to be compensated by any whose illegal activity contributed to these costs, and we will go to court to ensure the American people receive the compensation that they deserve,” Sessions said.
The new Prescription Interdiction and Litigation (PIL) task force will use criminal and civil tools to push back against opioid manufacturers.
Sessions talked about those latest efforts in the national opioid fight while flanked by attorneys general from a number of states hardest hit by opioid overdoses, including Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
Shapiro’s office is helping lead a 41-state probe into the business practices of five manufacturers and three distributors that those involved in the investigation say are responsible for distributing nearly 90 percent of the nation’s prescription opioids.
He said after Tuesday’s news conference that the DOJ’s decision to get involved in legal action against manufacturers “highlights the issue even more” as the separate investigation by Pennsylvania and other states is conducted.
“The more agents on the ground, the more lawyers on the ground, the more we share intelligence and cooperate on individual investigations, the better off we all are,” Shapiro said.
Fifteen Pennsylvanians die of heroin or opioid overdoses each day, Shapiro said.
Combating that crisis requires several simultaneous approaches, including arresting drug dealers, cracking down on legal prescriptions that are being used illegally, collaborating among state and federal officials, and focusing on the supply chain of drugs, he added.
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Trump Justice Department wades in to opioid lawsuits as Harris County fights to keep its case local
Feb 27, 2018 | Houston Chronice (TX)
By Keri Blakinger
The federal government is wading into the legal battle against prescription painkillers, even as Harris County is fighting to keep its lawsuit in local courts.
The Department of Justice on Tuesday announced plans to file a statement of interest in a multi-district legal action, a massive case that bundles together hundreds of lawsuits against the giant pharmaceutical companies responsible for making the addictive drugs that are fueling the growing overdose epidemic.
"Opioid abuse is driving the deadliest drug crisis in American history. It has cost this nation hundreds of thousands of precious lives," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.
"President Trump and this administration have made ending this unprecedented crisis a priority, and the Department of Justice is committed to using every lawful tool at our disposal to turn the tide. We will seek to hold accountable those whose illegality has cost us billions of taxpayer dollars."
The announcement came just hours after Harris County official reiterated their hopes for keeping the county's December civil suit in local courts instead of joining the large-scale litigation now centered in a federal court in Ohio.
"Harris County residents deserve justice in their own court," said County Attorney Vince Ryan. "Any delay such as that associated with transferring the case to Cleveland is unacceptable and imposes a burden upon the Harris County taxpayers."
Initially filed in a Harris County court in December, the county's legal claim targets 21 companies and a handful of individuals accused of conspiracy, neglect and creating a public nuisance by making and marketing addictive painkillers, according to court papers.
After legal wrangling earlier this month, three of the drug distributors named in the drug suit - McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health - succeeded in getting the claim moved to a federal court in Texas. But they're still aiming to transfer the case to a federal court in Ohio, according to legal filings.
Currently, the county is waiting on a decision from a federal judge who will decide where the case will proceed.
"We are optimistic," said assistant county attorney Pegi Block. "We feel like the case for wrongfully removed and belongs back in state court."
The Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a trade association that represents some of the companies named in the suit, didn't respond to the efforts to move the case to Ohio, but pushed back Tuesday against the suit's claims.
"Given our role, the idea that distributors are responsible for the number of opioid prescriptions written defies common sense and lacks understanding of how the pharmaceutical supply chain actually works and is regulated," association senior vice president John Parker said in a statement Tuesday. "Those bringing lawsuits would be better served addressing the root causes, rather than trying to redirect blame through litigation."
In court papers, the drug distributors argue that a transfer to the Northern District of Ohio would create "significant efficiencies" by allowing the case to move forward alongside dozens of similar suits included in multi-district litigation there. Multi-district litigation can streamline the discovery process by bundling together similar claims, though the case would still return to a Texas court if it ends up going to trial.
But the county is opposing the shift to Ohio, and Ryan filed a motion to have the case returned to state district court, arguing that the move would actually cause a "substantial delay," according to a news release.
The lawsuit argues that the Big Pharma defendants knew about the addictive nature of opioids, but still marketed them in a way that encouraged overprescribing.
"These defendants placed their quest for profits above the public good," Ryan said after filing the suit in mid-December. "Unfortunately Harris County has found itself in a battle against opioids and the crushing financial effect of this epidemic."
The slew of cases across the country have already drawn comparisons to the multi-billion-dollar Big Tobacco litigation filed by state attorneys general in the 1990s.
There's no specified dollar amount in the county's civil claim, but local officials estimated opioid addiction costs the jail more than $210,000 per day.
The number of opioid-related deaths has risen steadily in Harris County in recent years. In 2012, Harris County recorded 264 opioid-related deaths, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. In 2016, 311 people died from opioids, a category that includes everything from the codeine in some cough syrups and super-potent fentanyl to heroin and prescription oxycodone.
"As I said when I announced the lawsuit, these companies have repeatedly placed profits above people," Ryan said Tuesday. "The wrongful removal of this case demonstrates a continuation of that philosophy and a desire to frustrate the judicial process by denying the residents of Harris County the right to have this case determined by Harris County residents in the county where the harm occurred. The 133rd District Court is where this case belongs, not Cleveland, Ohio, where the defendants are attempting to have this case transferred."
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DOJ Announces New Task Force to Crack Down on Opioid Manufacturers
Feb 27, 2018 | The Washington Free Beacon
By Charles Fain Lehman
The Department of Justice will create a new task force to combat the surging opioid epidemic, focused in particular on the contributions of opioid manufacturers and distributors to the epidemic's rising death toll, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday.
The Prescription Interdiction and Litigation (PIL) Task Force is the latest move by the Sessions Justice Department in its ongoing fight against opioid abuse and associated crime. It will be charged with bringing federal law enforcement's considerable weight to bear on opioid producers who may have acted negligently or criminally in their production of additive drugs.
"The PIL Task Force will focus in particular on targeting opioid manufacturers and distributors who have contributed to this epidemic," Sessions said. "We will use criminal penalties. We will use civil penalties. We will use whatever tools we have to hold people accountable for breaking our laws."
Those penalties will be applied to large manufacturers of opioids, which a recent Senate reportsuggested paid some $9 million to advocacy groups to help encourage the prescription of opioid drugs for pain relief, often without regard for the potentially addictive side effects. Those manufacturers produce drugs such as hydrocodone and oxycodone, the overwhelming majority of which are consumed by Americans.
The PIL will focus not only on big pharma, but will also turn its attention to illicit production and distribution by smaller pharmacies and other distributors. Busting such pharmacies, often termed "pill mills," has been a special priority of the Drug Enforcement Agency, which notably seized almost 500,000 pills in one operation last December.
According to information provided by the Department of Justice, the PIL will include senior officials from the offices of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, and the Associate Attorney General, as well as senior officials from the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the Civil Division, the Criminal Division, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Those officials will work alongside other executive departments, especially the Department of Health and Human Services, to enact the PIL's ambit.
Perhaps the most significant move Sessions announced Tuesday, however, was his decision to have the Justice Department support the enormous, multi-district lawsuit brought by hundreds of cities, municipalities, and hospitals against opioid producers and distributors. That case, which some say mirrors past litigation against big tobacco firms, seeks to recover costs which the plaintiffs say they were forced to incur due to deceptive marketing practices which directly caused the opioid crisis.
The Justice Department will support that lawsuit by arguing that the federal government has also been force to bear those costs through federal health programs and through law enforcement efforts.
"The federal government has borne substantial costs as a result of the opioid crisis. The Medicare prescription drug program, for example, paid more than $4 billion for opioids in 2016. The hard-working taxpayers of this country deserve to be compensated by those whose illegal activity contributed to those costs. And we will go to court to ensure that the American people receive the compensation they deserve," Sessions said.
The department's latest commitments to fighting the epidemic come as news about the state of America's opioid addiction remains mixed at best. The latest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that while overdose deaths declined in 14 states over the first half of 2017, the total number of overdose deaths increased 14 percent over that same period. Some states saw increases in their overdose death rate as high as 30 percent, the CDC found.
In total, there were almost 64,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016 (the latest full year for which data are available), of which 66 percent—more than 42,000—were attributable to heroin, fentanyl, prescription, or other opioids. The opioid epidemic is responsible for a two-year decline in average U.S. life expectancy, the first such decline since the early 1960s.
Faced with these numbers, Sessions promised more action soon to come.
"These are not our last steps. We will continue to attack the opioid crisis from every angle. And we will continue to work tirelessly to bring down the number of opioid prescriptions, reduce the number of fatal overdoses, and to protect the American people," he said.
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DOJ Will Weigh in on Lawsuits Against Opioid Manufacturers
Feb 27, 2018 | Health Leaders Media
By Steven Porter
Attorneys general unveil plans to pull legal levers in the fight against opioid addiction, placing much of the blame on those who push addictive painkillers.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it will weigh in on hundreds of lawsuits that have been filed against opioid manufacturers and distributors, seeking reimbursement for costs imposed by the opioid addiction crisis.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who held a press conference Tuesday afternoon with state attorneys general from across the country, said the DOJ will file a statement of interest in a multi-district action regarding the lawsuits filed by states, cities, medical institutions, and others.
Without calling out any defendants by name, Sessions accused the companies of harming public health by employing false and deceptive marketing practices to push their addictive products, which ultimately resulted in a swell of expensive treatment and enforcement needs shouldered by local, state, and federal government agencies.
“We will seek to hold accountable those whose illegality has cost us billions of taxpayer dollars,” Sessions said in a statement, noting that opioid addiction has claimed “hundreds of thousands of precious lives.”
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican whose state has sued a number of drug companies over opioids, said the DOJ’s contribution to the legal challenges is “a game-changer.”
Also during Tuesday’s presentation, Sessions and his guests discussed a number of other efforts underway to fight this problem.
PIL Task Force: Sessions announced the creation of the DOJ Prescription Interdiction and Litigation (PIL) Task Force, which intends to fight the opioid crisis using criminal and civil procedures alike. The initiative aims to bring all of DOJ’s efforts to combat opioids under a single umbrella.
Sessions said the task force will work in close collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services and focus on targeting manufacturers and distributors who contributed to the crisis.
“We will use criminal penalties. We will use civil penalties. We will use whatever laws and tools we have to hold people accountable if they break our laws,” he said.
The task force will also assess existing state and local lawsuits to see where the DOJ might assist in efforts to hold drug-makers accountable, Sessions said.
IMD Exclusion: Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said he was proud to work with DeWine among dozens of state attorneys general who called on Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration to eliminate Medicaid’s decades-old funding exclusion for institutions for mental disease (IMD).
“Doing away with that will open up treatment beds in every state in this union, and it’s critically important that we do that for those who are in need and those who are desiring that kind of treatment,” Shapiro said.
While declaring the opioid crisis a national public health emergency last October, Trump himself referred to the so-called IMD exclusion.
“As part of this emergency response,” he said, “we will announce a new policy to overcome a restrictive 1970s-era rule that prevents states from providing care at certain treatment facilities with more than 16 beds for those suffering from drug addiction.”
Details on that policy have not been released.
Citing recent studies, he added that the opioid epidemic cost the U.S. nearly $115 billion last year alone, with future costs expected to rise.
“It is estimated,” Sessions said, “that we use many times more opioids than is medically necessary for a population our size.”
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Opioid crisis: justice department to back local lawsuits against manufacturers
Feb 27, 2018 | The Guardian
By Jessica Glenza
A new federal taskforce will target misdeeds of opioid manufacturers and distributors, and the US Department of Justice will back lawsuits brought by local governments against makers of the prescription painkillers at the root of the opioids public health crisis, the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, announced on Tuesday.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to curb the epidemic, which killed 64,000 people in 2016. The government’s efforts are part of an election campaign promise Trump made to Appalachian states that heavily supported the president and which have borne the brunt of the crisis.
Sessions said he would seek “reimbursement” for costs the government incurred as a result of painkiller manufacturers’ allegedly, “false, deceptive, and unfair marketing of opioid drugs”.
“The hard-working taxpayers of this country deserve to be compensated by any whose illegal activity contributed to these costs,” Sessions said.
Sessions said the opioid crisis cost the US an estimated $115bn in 2017, and has cost a trillion dollars since 2001. Over the next three years, the crisis is expected to cost an additional half-trillion dollars, he said.
The new Prescription Interdiction and Litigation Unit, or “Pill” taskforce, will target manufacturers who “contributed” to the epidemic. The taskforce aims, in part, to “bring down the number of opioid prescriptions”, Sessions said. “We think there are just too many.”
Sessions also announced the department would issue “party of interest” statements in lawsuits filed against manufacturers.'I was high as hell': Flea, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, attacks prescription of OxyContin
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To date, 14 state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against drug manufacturers, and more are expected, and 41 are investigating the firms.
Separately, in Ohio, a federal judge is presiding over a multi-district group of lawsuits brought by many US cities and counties against leading pharmaceutical companies and distributors at the heart of the opioid painkiller trade.
Drug overdoses killed 64,000 Americans in 2016. The death toll is expected to continue to rise. At its peak in 2010, researchers found there were 81 prescriptions for the powerful narcotic painkillers issued for every 100 people in the United States.
Drug manufacturers are largely blamed for kicking off the opioid crisis in the early 2000s with marketing campaigns that encouraged family doctors to make widespread use of the drugs. Public health researchers believe marketing of those pills and, later, attempts to begin scaling them back, spurred demand for illicit heroin and fentanyl.
Ohio’s attorney general, Mike DeWine, on Tuesday called the statement of interest filing from the Department of Justice “a game changer”, and “very, very significant”.
“The facts are that about 20 years ago, drug manufacturers decided that they wanted a much bigger market,” said DeWine. Drug companies, he added, “went to primary care physicians … to convince them that these were wonder drugs and told them at the time that these drugs were ‘not very addictive’.
“We know these are very addictive and yet these drug companies continued to do this.”
The pharmaceutical industry is considered one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington DC, and has spent $3.7bn since 1998 trying to sway members of Congress.
It has largely been successful. An April 2016 law is blamed for neutering the US Drug Enforcement Agency’s ability to pursue drug distributors, and political efforts to rein in drug prices have also failed.
Sessions himself has made controversial comments about opioid prescribing, telling an audience in Tampa earlier this month that “people need to take some aspirin sometimes”, and claimed marijuana fueled the drug overdose epidemic.
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Sessions Creates New Task Force to Target Rx Opioids
Feb 27, 2018 | Pain News Network
By Pat Anson
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced the creation of a new task force targeting manufacturers and distributors of opioid pain medication, as well as physicians and pharmacies engaged in the “unlawful” prescribing of opioids.
“We are attacking this crisis at its root: the diversion and overprescription of opioid painkillers,” Sessions said at a news conference. “We will use criminal penalties. We will use civil penalties. We will use whatever tools we have to hold people accountable for breaking our laws.”
Sessions also said the Justice Department would file a “statement of interest” in hundreds of lawsuits filed by states, counties and cities seeking to recover billions of dollars in damages from opioid manufacturers who used deceptive marketing practices. Such a statement could result in the federal government joining as a party in the lawsuits and recovering damages.
Sessions said the government had borne “substantial costs” as a result of the opioid crisis, including $4 billion paid by Medicare for opioid pain medication in 2016.
“The hard-working taxpayers of this country deserve to be compensated by those whose illegal activity contributed to those costs. And we will go to court to ensure that the American people receive the compensation they deserve,” Sessions said.
“These are not our last steps. We will continue to attack the opioid crisis from every angle. And we will continue to work tirelessly to bring down the number of opioid prescriptions, reduce the number of fatal overdoses, and to protect the American people.”Sessions’ announcement avoided any mention of the growing scourge of black market opioids, such as heroin, illicit fentanyl and counterfeit medication, which are now responsible for most overdose deaths. He also did not acknowledge that opioid prescribing has been declining for several years and that less than one percent of legally prescribed opioids are diverted.
The new task force – called the Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (PIL) Task Force -- will include senior officials from the Attorney General’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It appears to be focused solely on prescription opioids.
“The PIL Task Force will use the criminal and civil tools available under the Controlled Substances Act against doctors, pharmacies, and others that break the law,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Sessions directed the task force to improve coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services – which includes the FDA, CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) – in sharing healthcare data to identify “patterns of fraud related to the opioid epidemic.”
His single-minded focus on pain medication as the cause of the opioid crisis has angered many pain patients and advocates.
"I am operating on the assumption that this country prescribes too many opioids," Sessions said during a speechearlier this month. "People need to take some aspirin sometimes and tough it out.”
“I hope Sessions falls down, hits his head and breaks a hip and has to take two aspirin and get over it,” wrote one PNN reader.
“Jeff Sessions is an instrument of hate. He has succeeded in driving a wedge through the most sacred trusts -- the relationships between doctors and patients. Doctors now fear and loathe their patients for putting their licenses at risk, and patients fear and loathe their doctors for abandoning their compassionate care plans,” wrote another reader.
"This is exactly why we don't need a group of people that know nothing about what they are making laws for. Jeff Sessions if you or one of your family had Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy you would never have made a fool out of yourself with your aspirin remarks," said another.
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Feb 27, 2018 | National Programming
By CNBC
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33072002?token=21ad816e-7318-48bd-b8d7-045653d54b5d
Rough Transcript: let's get to meg with a news alert on america's opioid crisis >> attorney general jeff sessions just holding a news conference to announce new actions in the opioid crisis many of these targeting manufacturers and distributors that many states and several lawsuits and now even the federal government arguing exacerbated the crisis because of deceptive marketing some of those state lawsuits have been targeting manufacturers including teva, endo, and johnson & johnson as well as distributors sessions saying today he's starting a new task force to examine these existing state and local government lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors to determine if they can be of assistance. saying that this crisis has cost the federal government more than $4 billion for the medicare prescription drug program alone in 2016. so they're taking a closer look at these lawsuits here, guys and of course, these companies have all said they disagree with these claims in the lawsuits we'll bring you more news. >> thank you very much big important story there.
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Feb 27, 2018 | New York, NY
By NY1HD (Spectrum News)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33072058?token=21ad816e-7318-48bd-b8d7-045653d54b5d
Rough Transcript: attorney general jeff sessions is putting opioid manufacturers in hi cross hairs. he says the federal government is joining in with various states to sue some drug manufacturers an distributors for what he calls misleading and illegl tactics used to boost sale. sessions has also tapped former federal prosecutor mary daly to serve as opiod coordinator for the department of justice to specifically deal with enforcement and prevention the changes comes as the government looks for ways o stop the growing and deadl opioid epidemic. "the federa government has borne substantial costs as a result of this crisis. the medicare prescription drug program for example paid ot more than $4 billion for opioids in 2016 alone. now hard working tax payers of this country deserve to be compensated by any whose illegal activity contributd to these costs." the centers for disease control and prevention says in 2016 .. opioids killed more than 42-thousad people in the u-s -- 40 percent of the deaths
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Feb 27, 2018 | Philadelphia, PA
By WCAU (NBC)
Video Link: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/33072056?token=21ad816e-7318-48bd-b8d7-045653d54b5d
Rough Transcript: the fight against opioids brought people together. jeff sessions, josh sue pea row, and others announced a new task force to fight the epidemic. it's important considering over 100,000 americans have already died from overdoses. >> we will use criminal penalties, civil penalties, whatever laws and tools we have to hold people accountable if they break our laws. >> sessions also announced that federal prosecutor mary daily will serve as director of the doj's opioid enforcement and prevention efforts.
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