DeWine helps lead national effort to expand drug-addiction treatment

Ohio Attorney COLUMBUS — General Mike DeWine is co-leading a bipartisan effort by the nation’s attorneys general to persuade Congress to expand drug addiction treatment amid the opioid crisis.

DeWine, working with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and 37 other attorneys general, Monday announced support of the “Road to Recovery Act” pending before theU.S. House of Representatives.

Language in the original authorization ofMedicaid in 1965 prevented federal funding of large residential mental health facilities to avoid funding “inhumane” institutions. The attorneys general support modifying the provision to allowthe funding of residential drug-treatment centers.

“The ‘Road to Recovery’ Act will help those struggling with addiction gain access to treatment, and eliminate a decades-old Medicaid rule that limits residential treatment options,” DeWine said.

Ledby opioids such as fentanyl, Ohio recorded 4,050 accidental drug overdose deaths last year, an increase of 33 percent from 2015.

DeWine also has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from five drug manufacturers, alleging they violated laws in knowingly peddled opioid painkillers that they knewwould create addicts.

DeWine has not joined other state attorneys general in suing drug distributors for their role in the distribution of opioid painkillers. Other states have sued major pharmaceutical distributors including Cardinal Health of Dublin.

He also declined to sign onto an effort by 37 attorneys general callingonhealth insurance companies tooffer incentives for other forms of pain treatment including non-opioid drugs and massage.