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INDIANAPOLIS – Attorney General Curtis Hill is working with a bipartisan coalition of a majority of attorneys general from across the country in an ongoing investigation to evaluate whether manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing and sale of opioids. The attorneys general are investigating what role, if any, the opioid manufacturers may have played in creating or prolonging this epidemic. The coalition of attorneys general is using its investigative tools, including subpoenas for documents and testimony, to determine the appropriate courses of action to address this opioid epidemic. In Indiana and across the nation, opioids — prescription and illicit—are the main driver of drug overdose deaths. Opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths nationwide in 2015, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In 2015, there were 1,245 opioid-related deaths in Indiana, up nearly 10 percent from 2014. Though the coalition of attorneys general is not identifying any targets of its investigation at this time, Gen. Hill wants to assure Hoosiers that he is taking steps to help address this opioid epidemic in Indiana. |
