State Attorney General George Jepsen has announced that Connecticut is joining the growing bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from across the country on an ongoing investigation to evaluate whether pharmaceutical manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing and sale of prescription opioids.
Although Jepsen did not specify which pharma companies will be under investigation, it seems likely that Stamford”™s Purdue Pharma, which manufactures OxyContin and is the subject of several lawsuits, will be included.
The attorneys general are investigating what role, if any, opioid manufacturers may have played in exacerbating or prolonging the nation’s opioid epidemic.
“The opioid epidemic continues to have a devastating impact in Connecticut,” Jepsen said. “It would be irresponsible to predict at this stage whether our efforts will lead to legal action or relief, but Connecticut residents can be assured that we will pursue this investigation fully.”
In Connecticut, 917 people died from drug overdoses in 2016, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Nationwide, prescription and illicit opioids 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 and Prevention.
