In Opioid Battle, States Launch Bipartisan Probe of Drug Marketing

A bipartisan group of state attorneys general announced on Thursday that they are jointly investigating the marketing and sales practices of drug companies that manufacture opioid painkillers at the center of a national addiction epidemic.

 

Attorneys general from states including Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania announced the investigation two weeks after Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine sued five drug manufacturers for misrepresenting the risks of opioids.

 

"We are looking into what role, if any, marketing and related practices might have played in the increasing prescription and use of these powerful and addictive drugs," District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine, a Democrat, said in a statement.