Attorney General Peterson Announces Ongoing Investigation to Help Address the Opioid Crisis

Lincoln, Nebraska – Attorney General Peterson 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 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 course of action to address this opioid epidemic.  Nationwide and in Nebraska, 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.^[1] 

"The expanding abuse of opioid painkillers is both a national and statewide concern. We are addressing it from numerous approaches including this multi-state investigation of the pharmaceutical industry,” said General Peterson.

The coalition of Attorneys General is not identifying any targets of its investigation at this time.

^[1] https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html