(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Steve Marshall announced he is part of a bipartisan coalition of 41 state attorneys general seeking documents and information from manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids as part of multistate investigations into the nationwide opioid epidemic.
“Opioid abuse has reached a crisis level in Alabama and in many portions of the country, and earlier this year I joined with fellow attorneys general in investigating what role opioid manufacturers may have had in creating or prolonging the opioid abuse epidemic, and to establish the appropriate course of action to help solve this crisis,” Attorney General Marshall said. “Our investigation continues as we seek information from drug manufacturers and distributors to help determine whether they engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing, sale, and distribution of opioids.”
The attorneys general served investigative subpoenas for documents and information, also known as Civil Investigative Demands, on Endo, Janssen, Teva/Cephalon, Allergan, and their related entities, as well as a supplemental Civil Investigative Demand on Purdue Pharma. The attorneys general also sent information demand letters to opioid distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson requesting documents about their opioid distribution business.
Nationwide and in Alabama, opioids—prescription and illicit—are the main driver of drug overdose deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths in 2015 including 736 in Alabama, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999.
On August 8, 2017, Attorney General Marshall was appointed by Governor Kay Ivey to co-chair the newly-created Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council. The Council, which held its organizational meeting in the Alabama Attorney General’s Office on September 5, will examine the state’s opioid crisis and identify ways to reduce its harmful impact on Alabamians.
