Congress passed a law in April 2016, which effectively eliminated the Drug Enforcement Administration's ability to freeze suspicious shipments of opioids from drug distributors, according to a joint investigative report conducted by The Washington Post and "60 Minutes."
Here are seven things to know.
1. The investigation's primary source is Joe Rannazzisi, former chief of the DEA's Office of Diversion Control. Under Mr. Rannazzisi, the office took a more aggressive approach to reducing the number of opioids that made it into the illicit drug market by targeting the companies supplying the numerous pill mills cropping up nationwide.
2. When the DEA suspected drug distributors were ignoring suspicious orders of opioids, the agency, under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, filed an order requiring companies to explain within 30 days why they should not have their registration revoked. When the orders were particularly outlandish, the DEA implemented suspension orders, which halted shipments of the drugs under the implication the narcotics represented imminent danger to the community.
3. Over a 10-year period, the DEA brought at least 17 cases against 13 drug distributors and one drugmaker. The actions resulted in $425 million in fines, which represents a fraction of the industry's annual revenue.
4. During this time, political action committees on behalf of drug companies contributed $1.5 million to 23 lawmakers who sponsored or co-sponsored four versions of a bill to reduce the DEA's ability to investigate the industry. Under pressure from Congress, the DEA and the Department of Justice eventual ceded to the idea of a more industry-friendly drug law. This pressure also allegedly led DEA administrators to relieve Mr. Rannazzisi from his position in 2015.
5. Drug industry lobbyists specifically delivered $100,000 to Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., and $177,000 to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the congressional leaders who sponsored the 2016 law known as the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act. Mr. Marino refused to be interviewed for the article, as did the majority of drug companies and distributors mentioned in the piece.
6. In a statement emailed to The Washington Post, Matt Whitlock, a spokesman for Mr. Hatch, wrote, "We worked collaboratively with DEA and DOJ . . . and they contributed significantly to the language of the bill … DEA had plenty of opportunities to stop the bill and they did not do so."
7. From 2000 to 2015, more than 500,000 people died of opioid-related overdoses, according to the CDC. The DEA hasn't issued a suspension order against a drug distributor in two years. Mr. Marino is President Donald Trump's current nominee for drug czar.
To read the full report from The Washington Post, click here.
To watch the "60 Minutes" investigation, click here.
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