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Attorneys General Looking Into Pharmaceutical Companies' Role In Opioid Epidemic

FUTUREPROOF / FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

The attorneys general from Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas, along with about three dozen others have served subpoenas on several opioid manufacturers to determine what role they might have played in the nation’s opioid epidemic. This after the coalition of attorneys general sent a letter asking the insurance industry to re-examine the way it may support over-prescription of the potentially deadly and addictive drugs.

According to theDenver Post, subpoenas were served on Endo Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals/Cephalon, Inc. and Allergan, PLC, and their related entities that seek to uncover if the manufacturers of prescription painkillers misled doctors and patients about the efficacy and addictive power of their drugs.

And as the Topeka Capital-Journalreports, in the letter sent to insurance companies Monday, the attorneys general encouraged insurance industry trade groups and providers to review their coverage and payment policies for pain treatments.