WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday announced the creation of a task force focused 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," Sessions said 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."
U.S. attorneys general from seven states, including Leslie Rutledge of Arkansas, also attended the news conference.
Sessions' 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 appears to mark an intensified federal effort to address the dangerous 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 illegal 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 Department of Health and Human Services secretary 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 lightly controlled supply of pills are widely blamed for the start of the epidemic.
President Donald 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.
White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway disputed that assertion, pointing to a $6 billion funding boost for opioid programs included in a budget deal passed earlier this month and rule changes that make it easier for people to access treatment. Trump's commission on the opioid crisis has called for a wide-ranging menu of improvements it says are needed to curb the epidemic, including a nationwide system of drug courts and improving access to treatment.
The administration plans to roll out a messaging campaign on opioids that will include advertisements, marketing and educational components. Conway said it will use platforms including curriculum, digital, radio, print and television to educate the public about the crisis and "break through the stigma and silence" surrounding addiction.
"People should feel free to come forward and say, 'I think my colleague has a problem,' or 'I'm worried about my mother,'" she said.
That includes a White House project encouraging Americans to tell their personal stories about what the administration is calling "the crisis next door."
Information for this article was contributed by Sari Horwitz and Laurie McGinley of The Washington Post.
A Section on 02/28/2018