The state of Ohio is joining cities, counties and some other states in suing four companies that distributed prescription painkillers that officials say helped fuel the deadly opioid crisis. And one of the targets is right here in Central Ohio.
Attorney General Mike DeWine hinted at a news conference in October that this suit was coming when he said he’d sent a letter to major prescription pill distributors, asking them to help fund the fight against the epidemic that’s killing well over nine people a day in Ohio.
"These are the drug distributors, who flooded our state with pills that they knew far exceeded legitimate medical needs,” DeWine said.
The suit names Dublin-based Cardinal Health and Springboro-based Miami-Luken, as well as drug distributors McKesson and AmerisourceBergen.
Ohio was already suing five painkiller manufacturers. Distributors have said they only responded to demand for medicine, and point the blame back on federal drug regulators and doctors.
Cardinal Health faces similar lawsuits from more than 300 other state and local governments.
