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Three companies shipped approximately 1.6 billion doses of powerful prescription opioids to Missouri pharmacies from 2012 to 2017, according to a congressional report seeking the root causes of the opioid epidemic. The report, released by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), shows that drug distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson Corp. and Amerisource Bergen funneled the equivalent of about 260 opioid pills for every person in Missouri in the five-year period, during which time the opioid epidemic raged there — and nationwide. (Zezima, 7/12)

A Senate report released Thursday lays out systematic failures in the reporting system for suspicious opioid orders, faulting some drug distributors and manufacturers for their roles and criticizing the Drug Enforcement Administration for a years-long lull in enforcement actions. The findings, the latest in a series of reports from Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), the top Democrat on the Senate’s leading oversight committee, pointed in particular to disparities between two leading drug distributors: McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. (Facher, 7/12)

“What the report finds very clearly is something is wrong with the application of the law as it relates to reporting potential problematic distributions," said McCaskill. "Because clearly the law is not being applied the same way among these three major distributors and it calls into question how effective the DEA is being in terms of overseeing the distribution of opioids in this country.” (Marso, 7/12)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) finalized a proposal Wednesday giving the agency more power to control how many opioids are produced annually in the U.S. Under the proposal, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could issue stricter limits on certain opioids if federal authorities believe they are being misused. (Hellmann, 7/11)