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AG Jeff Sessions Press Conference - Cleveland, OH - 8/22/18
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AG Jeff Sessions Addresses US Opioid Epidemic in Cleveland
Aug 22, 2018 | Associated Press
By Mark Gillespie
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions during an appearance in Cleveland on Wednesday outlined three enforcement actions aimed at loosening the opioid epidemic's "grip of death and destruction" on the nation. -
Sessions moves to block two Ohio doctors from prescribing opioids
Aug 22, 2018 | The Hill
By Peter Sullivan
The Department of Justice is moving to block two Ohio doctors from writing prescriptions because it alleges they dispensed opioids without a legitimate medical purpose. -
Feds target manufacturers, dealers, doctors in major anti-opioid sweep
Aug 22, 2018 | Washington Times
By Stephen Dinan
The Justice Department opened several new fronts in the battle against opioid addiction Wednesday, announcing legal action against Chinese manufacturers who ship them into the U.S., “darknet” operators who sell them to users and doctors who overprescribe painkillers to their patients. -
Chinese fentanyl, the Dark Web, and over-prescribing doctors: AG Sessions talks combating opioid epidemic in Cleveland
Aug 22, 2018 | Cleveland.com (OH)
By Eric Heisig
Attorney General Jeff Sessions touted multiple recent actions by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cleveland that he believes will have a significant impact on the international opioid scourge that continues to kill Americans at record rates. -
All roads lead to Akron: U.S. Attorney General touts federal efforts fight opioids
Aug 22, 2018 | Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
By Amanda Garrett
Federal prosecutors this month tried out a new legal tactic against an Akron physician accused of selling opioids for cash in hotel parking lots. -
Department of Justice announces 'Operation Darkness Falls' program to fight opioid trafficking
Aug 22, 2018 | Cleveland 19 (OH)
By Randy Buffington
U.S Attorney General Jeff Sessions and several members of the U.S Justice Department were in Cleveland discussing the deadly opioid epidemic. -
Attorney General Jeff Sessions to speak in Cleveland about opioid crisis
Aug 22, 2018 | News 5 Cleveland (OH)
By Drew Scofield
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is in Cleveland Wednesday to deliver remarks about the ongoing opioid epidemic crisis affecting the country and Northeast Ohio. -
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AG Jeff Sessions Addresses US Opioid Epidemic in Cleveland
Aug 22, 2018 | Associated Press
By Mark Gillespie
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions during an appearance in Cleveland on Wednesday outlined three enforcement actions aimed at loosening the opioid epidemic's "grip of death and destruction" on the nation.
"Today's announcements are a warning to every trafficker, every crooked doctor or pharmacist and every drug company, every chairman and foreign national and company that puts greed before the lives and health of the American people," Sessions said.
Those actions included the country's first-ever civil injunction that has barred two Ohio doctors from prescribing drugs; the indictment of two Chinese nationals accused of shipping powerful synthetic opioids around the globe; and a recent operation to shut down the country's biggest "dark net" distributor of drugs.
Sessions said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently estimated there were 72,000 fatal drug overdoses in the country last year, adding that recent data show the number of deaths may be leveling off.
"We are sadly aware that Ohio is at the center of the drug epidemic," Sessions said, noting that the state had the nation's second-highest overdose death rate in 2016 behind West Virginia.
The civil injunction was filed last week against doctors based in northern Ohio. Prosecutors said one of the doctors advertised his services at gyms and directly sold opioids and steroids to undercover agents. The second physician is accused of selling opioids and other prescription drugs and taking $175,000 in illegal kickbacks from a manufacturer of liquid fentanyl that's used to treat cancer patients.
Sessions announced a 43-count indictment filed against a 35-year-old man and his 62-year-old father who live in Shanghai and are accused of engaging in a conspiracy to manufacture and ship 250 types of synthetic narcotics globally. The indictment said the pair has used shell companies to ship narcotics to customers in 25 different countries and 37 U.S. states and that drugs they sold are directly responsible for two overdose deaths in Akron, Ohio.
The pair also sold fake drugs, including cancer medication that was actually bath salts, Sessions said.
The third case involves an undercover operation that earlier this year shut down a San Antonio-based operation that sold drugs, including fentanyl and heroin, on dark websites using private messaging and encrypted software to avoid detection from law enforcement.
All of the cases are being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cleveland.
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Sessions moves to block two Ohio doctors from prescribing opioids
Aug 22, 2018 | The Hill
By Peter Sullivan
The Department of Justice is moving to block two Ohio doctors from writing prescriptions because it alleges they dispensed opioids without a legitimate medical purpose.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the announcement in a speech in Ohio on Wednesday. He said the action was the first of its kind and a sign of how serious the administration is about fighting the opioid epidemic.
The DOJ said the doctors had been served this week with temporary restraining orders preventing them from prescribing.
“These injunctions – a temporary restraining order - will stop immediately these doctors from prescribing—without waiting for a criminal prosecution,” Sessions said.
Sessions said the move is part of a “series of dramatic announcements that reveal the determination of this administration and this Department of Justice to take strong action to combat the grip of death and destruction that has taken hold of our country.”
In addition, Sessions announced indictments of the leaders of a Chinese drug trafficking organization, which the DOJ said distributed synthetic opioids in the United States and other countries.
Sessions also announced charges against online “dark net” opioid dealers.
President Trump last week urged Sessions to sue opioid manufacturers. Sessions said Wednesday that “President Trump has directed me to take civil action against drug companies when it is warranted by law—and I will do so.”
Sessions emphasized the move against the two Ohio doctors is a new step, calling it the “first ever civil injunctions under the Controlled Substances Act against doctors who evidence indicates prescribed opioids illegally.”
The DOJ alleges that Dr. Michael Tricasio sold thousands of dollars of narcotics without a legitimate medical purpose. And it says Dr. Gregory Gerber prescribed “countless” opioids without a medical purpose and filed false claims with Medicare.
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Feds target manufacturers, dealers, doctors in major anti-opioid sweep
Aug 22, 2018 | Washington Times
By Stephen Dinan
The Justice Department opened several new fronts in the battle against opioid addiction Wednesday, announcing legal action against Chinese manufacturers who ship them into the U.S., “darknet” operators who sell them to users and doctors who overprescribe painkillers to their patients.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the moves in Cleveland, saying they are proof that the government is adapting to fight the unique challenges of the opioid epidemic.
That means going after Chinese suppliers who manufacture deadly synthetic drugs such as fentanyl then ship them through the mail to the U.S., and targeting the dealers using dark corners of the internet to feed addicts’ needs.
But the most innovative move was seeking a temporary restraining order against two Ohio doctors to ban them from prescribing painkillers. One federal investigator said the doctors were “automatic prescription machines” filling requests from anyone who asked.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said it was a pioneering move to win the restraining orders.
“Today’s announcements are a warning to every trafficker, every crooked doctor or pharmacist, and every drug company, every chairman and foreign national and company that puts greed before the lives and health of the American people: this Justice Department will use civil and criminal penalties alike and we will find you, put you in jail, or make you pay,” Mr. Sessions said.
Policymakers in Washington and in statehouses across the country are reaching for ideas that could make a dent in the opioid scourge, which claims tens of thousands of lives each year.
Breaking the cycle of addiction has proved difficult, while the advent of powerful new synthetic opioids has increased the danger to users. Officials at the national and state level have allocated billions of dollars to combat addiction, but breaking the supply chain has been more of a challenge as the bodies pile up.
Two of those bodies — overdose victims in Akron, Ohio — led back to Chinese suppliers, the Justice Department says. Prosecutors unsealed a 43-count indictment against Fuing Zheng and Guanghua Zheng, both of Shanghai, on charges of conspiracy to manufacture controlled substances, to import them into the U.S., and to launder money from the enterprise.
The government also announced new legal victories from Operation Darkness Falls, a federal effort to go after people illicitly selling fentanyl over the internet.
The operators of MH4Life were using darknet marketplaces such as Silk Road, AlphaBey and Dream Market to sell opioids, the government charges. Over the course of seven years they made thousands of sales, prosecutors said.
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Aug 22, 2018 | Cleveland.com (OH)
By Eric Heisig
Attorney General Jeff Sessions touted multiple recent actions by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cleveland that he believes will have a significant impact on the international opioid scourge that continues to kill Americans at record rates.
The announcements made Wednesday during Sessions' brief news conference in Cleveland involve the Dark Web, Chinese fentanyl dealers and two northern Ohio doctors accused of over-prescribing prescription pills.
Sessions spoke alongside U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman and other Justice Department officials. He mostly stuck to talking about law enforcement activity regarding prescription and synthetic opioids in an effort to reduce the number of overdose deaths nationwide.
He did, however, appear to briefly address the flurry of news that happened Tuesday regarding criminal actions by people who worked on President Donald Trump's campaign. Wednesday marked Sessions' first public appearance since a jury found former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort guilty of financial fraud crimes. The conviction came the same day Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to, among other things, facilitating the payment of hush money to two women who said they had affairs with the president.
Sessions, whose recusal from the investigation into the 2016 presidential election makes him a favorite target of Trump's Twitter ire, said everyone was aware of the activities of his Justice Department and that he would not comment.
"But this Department of Justice is focused on the priorities that this president and the American people have given us," Sessions said, naming the opioid crisis, violent crime, gangs and immigration.
The announcements Sessions made included:Obtaining temporary restraining orders against doctors in Akron and Sandusky, preventing them from prescribing medication. Officials say they were over-prescribing painkillers that patients.An indictment against two men in China, charging them with manufacturing and shipping fentanyl and other synthetic drugs to at least 25 countries, including the U.S. A Boston-area chemist pleaded guilty in a federal court in Akron this month to receiving shipments from the Zheng's organization and sending the drugs to multiple states, including Ohio."Operation Darkness Falls," in which several people who sold fentanyl and other drugs on the Dark Web. Several of those defendants are Ohio residents.
Herdman previously said his office is focusing on investigating cases involving the Dark Web to combat the opioid epidemic.
Temporary restraining orders against Ohio doctors
Sessions announced that the Justice Department obtained temporary restraining orders against Ohio Drs. Michael Tricaso and Gregory Gerber that prevent them from writing prescriptions.
Federal prosecutors say Tricaso, who operates the Better Living Clinic in Akron, sold steroids and Percocet to a man without any apparent medical need. Tricaso and the man, who was a source for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, met in a hotel parking lot several times for their transactions, according to a news release.
Gerber, who works in Sandusky, received $175,000 between 2013 and 2016 for Insys Therapeutics to promote Subsys, a liquid form of fentanyl used to treat pain in cancer patients.
Such payments are illegal, prosecutors say.
The doctor also saw an undercover agent in October. The agent did not complain about pain and Gerber did only minimal medical examinations, but each time Gerber prescribed medication such as OxyContin, Dronabinol and Xanax, authorities say.
Court records show the temporary restraining orders were filed along with lawsuits last week. They were unsealed this week, after federal agents conducted search warrants related to both men in ongoing criminal investigations.
Tricaso and Gerber did not return phone calls left at their offices.
The Justice Department says the temporary restraining orders obtained against both doctors are the first ones ever obtained under the Controlled Substances Act against doctors accused of illegal prescribing practices.
Accused Chinese drug manufacturers and shippers
Sessions also announced an indictment against two Chinese men that authorities say are tied to several cases being handled by federal prosecutors in northern Ohio.
Fujing Zheng, aka Gordon Jin, and his father Guanghau Zheng, who both live in Shanghai, are named in a 43-count indictment that charges them with manufacturing and shipping fentanyl analogues and 250 other drugs to 25 countries and 37 U.S. states.
A grand jury handed up the indictment on Aug. 17 and it was unsealed Wednesday.
The pair used several companies with names such as Global United Biotechnology, Golden Chemicals, Cambridge Chemicals and Wonda Science. They also maintained numerous websites to sell the drugs in more than 35 languages between 2008 and today, authorities say.
The Zhengs had people who worked with them in several companies, including the U.S. Authorities arrested Boston-area chemist Bin Wang in 2017, and he pleaded guilty Aug. 6 to receiving drugs from the Zhengs and then shipping them throughout the United States.
Wang, 43, faces a recommended sentence of between 57 and 71 months in federal prison when he is sentenced Nov. 13. A native of China and citizen of Canada, he faces possible deportation after he completes his prison sentence.
More significantly, this is the first time federal prosecutors publicly linked drugs the pair are accused of making and shipping to the deaths of Akron residents Thomas Rauh and Carrie Dobbins.
The U.S. Attorney's Office charged Leroy Steele and his girlfriend Sabrina Robinson in connection to Rauh's death. Prosecutors say Steele emailed an address belonging to the Zheng organization in February 2015 in order to buy "acetylfetnanyl." Steele then sold drugs to Rauh, who died on March 21, 2015.
Both pleaded guilty. Steele is serving 20 years while Robinson is serving 10.
Co-defendant Ryan Sumlin sold some of the synthetic opioids from the shipment sent to Steele to Dobbins, who fatally overdosed on March 28, 2015.
A jury found Sumlin guilty of federal charges in April. He is set to be sentenced on Thursday.
It remains to be seen whether the Zhengs will face U.S. prosecution. Neither is in custody.
Dark Web fentanyl
Sessions announced that prosecutors in northern Ohio had charged multiple people from across the country with selling fentanyl and other drugs on the Dark Web.
Named "Operation Darkness Falls," Sessions said the biggest fish caught by authorities were husband-and-wife duo Matthew and Holly Roberts of San Antonio, Texas. The pair, arrested in April, mainly worked under the moniker "MH4Life, selling drugs between 2011 and 2018 on sites such as Dream Market, Silk Road, AlphaBay, Darknet Heroes and others, officials say.
Investigators believe Matthew and Holly Roberts, who are both 35, operated as the most prolific dark net fentanyl vendor in the U.S. and the fourth most prolific in the world, with thousands of transactions over several years.
They would be paid through cryptocurrency, which the couple would then convert into U.S. currency and then buy goods and prepaid credit cards and gift cards, officials say
Court records show that both are contemplating plea agreements with the government.
The operation has also led to charges for similar cases against Parma resident Nick Powell and Euclid man Antoin Austin, as well as people in Cincinnati, Marion and Canada.
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All roads lead to Akron: U.S. Attorney General touts federal efforts fight opioids
Aug 22, 2018 | Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
By Amanda Garrett
Federal prosecutors this month tried out a new legal tactic against an Akron physician accused of selling opioids for cash in hotel parking lots.
They asked for — and a judge granted — a temporary restraining order that immediately blocked Dr. Michael P. Tricaso from writing prescriptions even though he hasn’t been convicted of a crime.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Wednesday touted the move against Tricaso, founder of the Better Living Clinic in Merriman Valley, and a Sandusky doctor accused of other opioid-related offenses, during a speech in Cleveland about federal efforts to curb the opioid epidemic.
The restraining orders against Tricaso and Dr. Gregory J. Gerber marked the first-ever civil injunctions against doctors who allegedly prescribed opioids illegally.
“These doctors were simply drug dealers in white lab coats,” Justin Herdman, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio said later in a statement. “Putting so-called physicians like these out of business is one of several steps we are taking to turn the tide on the opioid and drug crisis that has cause so much death and heartbreak in our community.”
Court records show that the government filed an initial complaint against Tricaso Aug. 15. A judge granted the injunction two days later.
A sign Wednesday on the Better Living Clinic, where Tricaso is known as “Dr. Mike,” said the Weathervane Lane office was indefinitely closed. No one answered the phone there and no lawyer for Tricaso was listed in court records.
Though Sessions spoke in Cleveland Wednesday, cases involving opioids in Akron took center stage.
The attorney illustrated the government’s efforts to block the flow of drugs into the United States by revealing previously sealed charges against two Chinese nationals accused of running an international drug manufacturing and distribution operation that he said ultimately led to the overdose deaths of two people in Akron.
Fujing Zheng, aka Gordon Jin, 35, and his father Guanghua Zheng, 62, live in Shanghai, China and made and shipped fentanyl analogues and 250 other drugs to at least 25 countries and 37 states, federal officials said.
Some of those drugs wound up with Akron resident Leroy Steel, who sold them to Thomas Rauh, 37, and Carrie Dobbins, 23, in March 2015. Rauh and Dobbins both overdosed and died.
“Law enforcement will follow the evidence wherever it leads,” Herdman said, “including overseas, to stop the flow of drugs that have caused so much heartbreak and destruction in Ohio.”
Informant’s report
Tricaso appeared on federal investigators’ radar in May of 2016, when a confidential informant working for the DEA met him at a gym.
Federal officials said Tricaso frequents local gyms to promote his Merriman Valley clinic and serves as “gym doctor” at a workout facility in Painesville in Lake County, about 56 miles northeast of Akron.
Tricaso sold the informant steroids and other controlled substances numerous times that year, federal officials said.
It’s not clear whether prosecutors ever pursued charges, but two years later, federal officials said the same informant met Tricaso in a hotel parking lot June 26, 2018 and asked the doctor for a prescription of the opioid Vicodin.
Tricaso declined, saying he doesn’t “like writing scripts.” But Tricaso offered to provide the informant with the drugs instead. “It’s easier for me to get them for you than to write a script, ’cause it gets traced, you know,” Tricaso told the informant, court records said.
Tricaso then said he could get 50 to 100 Vicodin pills and sell them for $5 each, court records said.
The price, however, soon went up. Tricaso, according to court records, later texted the informant and said he would sell him 50 Percocet pills for $500. He also offered to write a prescription for 20 Percocet pills for the informant, an amount Tricaso said would fly “under the radar amount and wont be a red flag,” court records said.
On July 2, the informant met Tricaso in a hotel parking lot, where Tricaso sold the 50 Percocet pills and wrote a prescription, court records said.
About two weeks later, on July 18, Tricaso and the informant met again in a hotel parking lot. This time, federal official said, Tricaso sold the informant 100 Percocet pills for $1,000.
In an unrelated case in Sandusky, Dr. Gregory J. Gerber is accused of prescribing the painkiller Oxycodone and other drugs to an undercover agent during six office visits even though the agent never complained of pain, officials said.
Gerber is also accused of illegally accepting $175,000 between 2013 and 2016 from Insys Therapeutics to promote a liquid formulation of fentanyl sprayed under the tongue to treat cancer-related pain.
Investigations into both Tricaso and Gerber are ongoing, federal officials said.
From China to Akron
Sessions also highlighted federal efforts across the globe, including Operation Darkness Falls — which focused on opioid sales over the dark web — and the takedown of the Zheng drug trafficking organization which created and maintained numerous websites to advertise and sell illegal drugs in more than 35 languages, federal officials said.
The Zheng group claimed online to ship “over 16 tonnes of chemicals every month” from its own lab to “synthesize nearly any chemical on a bespoke basis in any quantity,” an federal indictment said.
The group not only touted its chemistry savvy to create custom-order drugs to avoid law enforcement attention during shipping, the indictment said, it promised to “re-ship for free” any shipment grabbed up by authorities.
Last month, federal official said, the Zheng group expanded its drug offerings by agreeing to manufacture adulterated cancer medication, creating counterfeit pills that “replaced the active cancer-fighting ingredient with dangerous synthetic drugs,” federal officials said.
It also created and shipped counterfeit Adderall pills that were “adulterated with deadly bath salts,” federal officials said.
In Akron, the Zheng group’s chemical concoctions proved deadly, federal officials said.
Investigators say Leroy Shuarod Steele of Akron purchased acetyl fentanyl from Zheng group in February 2015 and the drugs resulted in the overdose deaths of Thomas Rauh, 37, and Carrie Dobbins, 23, both of Akron, in March 2015.
Steele was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April 2017 after pleading guilty to drug offenses.
Valerie Rauh, Thomas’ mother, said at the time he hoped Steele’s lengthy prison sentence would send a message to other dealers that “it’s a riskier business than they thought.”
Rauh said her family never turned its back on Thomas, though he struggled with addiction for 10 years after becoming addicted to pain killers he received after rollerblading accident. He switched to heroin and went in and out of rehab.
“You never know what to do and what’s going to work,” Rauh said. “He always had a another chance. This criminal took away his last chance.”
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Department of Justice announces 'Operation Darkness Falls' program to fight opioid trafficking
Aug 22, 2018 | Cleveland 19 (OH)
By Randy Buffington
U.S Attorney General Jeff Sessions and several members of the U.S Justice Department were in Cleveland discussing the deadly opioid epidemic.
Sessions and several Senior Department Officials traveled to discuss their efforts.
The program will be a joint operation, targeting people and organizations that sell fentanyl and other drugs across the dark net.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions was confident that the program will make changes.
On March 19, President Trump announced the Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand. The initiative seeks to "reduce the over-prescription of opioids which has the potential to lead Americans down a path to addiction or facilitate diversion to illicit use."
Wednesday's announcement doubled down on that claim.
One husband and wife in particular, The Roberts', used private messaging, encryption software to provide security for their criminal organization, MH4Life.
Matthew and Holly Roberts, both 35, used decoys, such as glow bracelets and other mundane items, to hide the fact they were mailing narcotics.
The press conference was held at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
According to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's office, 727 people in the county died because of an opioid overdose.
In 2016, the county had 666 drug overdose deaths which means from 2016 to 2017 there was a 9 percent increase.
In 2015, 307 people died from overdoses, which represents and 80 percent increase from 2015 to 2016.
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions to speak in Cleveland about opioid crisis
Aug 22, 2018 | News 5 Cleveland (OH)
By Drew Scofield
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is in Cleveland Wednesday to deliver remarks about the ongoing opioid epidemic crisis affecting the country and Northeast Ohio.
Sessions is scheduled to speak around 12:20 p.m.
Sessions will be joined by Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio, Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler for the Department of Justice's Civil Division, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski for Department of Justice's Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman for the Northern District of Ohio, according to the release.
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Aug 22, 2018 | Columbus, OH
By WCMH (NBC)
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Rough Transcript: attorney general jeff sessions was in ohio today talking about the country's opioid epidemic. ohio has, of course, been one of the hardest hit states. the cuyahoga county medical examiner says there were 822 unintentional overdose deaths last year.
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Aug 22, 2018 | Ft. Wayne, IN
By WPTA (ABC)
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Rough Transcript: u.s. attorney general jeff sessions in ohio today discussing the country's opioid epidemic. while in cleveland... sessions announced several initiatives... including a provision of the controlled substance act... against doctors who prescribe opioids illegally. according to that provision... the doctor would immediately loses his or her ability to prescribe. sessions says he has seen a lot during his career in law enforcement... but nothing like this. "We are fighting the opioid epidemic. i started as a drug prosecutor in the '70's and became the United States attorney in the '80's. We never saw deaths like this. Nothing close to this. The purity and danger of these drugs is unprecedented." the medical examiner for cuyahoga county, which includes cleveland, has said there were more than 800 unintentional overdose deaths last year... compared with more than 600 the year before.
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Aug 22, 2018 | Dayton, OH
By WDTN (NBC)
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Rough Transcript: attorney general jeff sessions says the justice department and federal prosecutors have taken action regaing the epidemic... sessions spoke about law enforcement activity regarding prescription and synthetic opioids in an effort to reduce the number of overdose death naonwide.the medical examiner for cuyahoga county has said there were 822 unintentional overdose deaths last year compared with 666 in 2016. sessions: "we are fighting the opioid epidemic. i started as a drug prosecutor in the '70's and became the united states attorney in the '80's. we never saw deaths like this. nothing close to this.
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Aug 22, 2018 | Phoenix (Prescott), AZ
By KTVK (KTVK)
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Rough Transcript: attorney general jeff sessions is holding a news conference on the opioid epidemic. this is in cleveland, ohio... which is one of the hardest hit states. president trump has urged sessions to sue certain pharmaceutical companies... that have contributed to the opioid crisis in the united states. the opioid crisis in the united states.
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Aug 22, 2018 | Toledo, OH
By WTVG (ABC
Video Link: Unavailable
Rough Transcript: happening now ... u.s. attorney general jeff sessions is in cleveland this afternoon. at 12:20 p-m ... he will discuss the country's opioid epidemic and the justice department's efforts to combat it. the medical examiner for cuyahoga county says there were more than 800 unintentional overdose deaths last year compared with nearly 650 in 2016.
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Aug 22, 2018 | Toledo, OH
By WTOL (CBS)
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Rough Transcript: Today-- Attorney General Jeff Sessions is in Cleveland, talking about the nation's growing opioid crisis. He's set to hold a news conference this afternoon about law enforcement's role in combating the drug epidemic. Ohio is one of the hardest hit states. The Cuyahoga County medical examiner says 822 people died from overdoses last year in the county, compared to 666 in 2016. Lucas County numbers? Just under 400 drug deaths last year.
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