Six drug companies are under investigation for their hand in the current opioid crisis. To give you an idea of how large the crisis is, opioid overdoses contributed to 46,000 deaths in 2016. According to Reuters, the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York have already subpoenaed Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Mallinckrodt Plc, Johnson & Johnson and Amneal Pharmaceutical Inc, as well as distributor McKesson Corp. The companies are being scrutinized to see if they “intentionally allowed opioid painkillers to flood communities.” More companies are expected to receive subpoenas over the next few months. The central question in the probe is whether or not any of the accused parties violated the Controlled Substances Act, which, is a federal statute dictating that companies must report when they receive orders that are abnormally large or more frequent than usual.
In a statement released by Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical unit Janssen, spokesman Jake Sargent said, “Janssen believes that at all times its anti-diversion policies and procedures for distribution of its opioid medications complied with the law.” He continued saying, “in fact, monitoring data shows that the company’s opioids were rarely diverted or abused.”
Melania Trump got booed while speaking about the opioid crisis in Baltimore earlier this week. The first lady said, "I hope that the knowledge you gain here will help you tackle the tough decisions you may be faced with so that you can lead a healthy and drug-free life." Melania continued saying, "get involved and be a part of the solution."
