President Donald Trump called for a federal lawsuit against drug companies during a summit on the opioid crisis held at the White House March 1, according to a report from Reuters.
States, counties and cities in recent months have filed hundreds of lawsuits against drug companies for allegedly engaging in deceptive marketing tactics to promote widespread, unsafe use of opioid medications. During the summit, President Trump said he had previously urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to take legal action on behalf of the federal government against the companies.
"Hopefully we can do some litigation against the opioid companies," President Trump said. "A lot of states are doing it. If the states are doing it, why isn't the federal government doing it?"
The comments follow Attorney General Jeff Sessions' Feb. 28 announcement of a new Department of Justice task force launched to increase scrutiny on opioid makers and distributors. Mr. Sessions also said the task force will examine local and state opioid epidemic lawsuits to determine what assistance federal law can provide these legal actions.
To read the full Reuters report, click here.
To watch a recording of the White House opioid crisis summit, click here.
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