State joins probe of drug manufacturers, sellers

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman and more than three dozen of her counterparts have widened their probe into what role opioid manufacturers and distributors might have played in sparking the U.S. prescription pain medication and heroin epidemic.

The coalition of 41 attorneys general has served subpoenas on opioid manufacturers Endo Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals/Cephalon, Inc., Allergan PLC, and their related entities, Coffman’s office announced Tuesday. A supplemental subpoena was also served on Purdue Pharma.

The attorneys general — from both sides of the aisle — also sent letters requesting documentation from the nation’s top opioid distributors. Coffman’s office says Colorado is among the states leading the investigation of the manufacturers as part of the widespread investigation.

“The opioid epidemic has had a devastating impact on millions of families across the country, and Colorado has certainly not been immune to this crisis,” she said in a written statement. “The scourge of opioid addiction has impacted every corner of our state. Our doctors, nurses, and first responders have been working tirelessly, oftentimes in dangerous circumstances, to save those battling addiction.”

Prescription painkillers have long been blamed for leading the U.S. into its current spiral of heroin addiction and subsequent national spike in overdose deaths.

The subpoenas seek to uncover if the manufacturers of prescription painkillers misled doctors and patients about the efficacy and addictive power of their drugs, according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

“In some states hardesthit by the crisis, there are more opioid prescriptions than there are residents,” Schneiderman tweeted Tuesday. “Something is wildly broken here.”

The Virginia-based Healthcare Distribution Alliance, which represents primary pharmaceutical distributors, pushed back against the idea that its members bear any responsibility for the opioid epidemic.

“Pharmaceutical distributors welcome the opportunity to have a full discussion about how, and why, opioids have been overprescribed and how our industry can be positive contributors to addressing this public health crisis and its root causes,” the group’s president, John Gray, said in a written statement. “While distributors play a vital role as logistics companies, to suggest that they are responsible for the volume of opioids prescribed lacks a fundamental understanding of how the supply chain works and is regulated. Distributors have no ability to influence what prescriptions are written.”

Colorado has seen a sharp rise in opioid use and fatal overdoses in the past decade.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reports heroin-related deaths among Colorado residents doubled between 2011 and 2015, over which span there was also a 2,035 percent increase in the number of heroin seizures.