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The State of Ohio filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the pharmaceutical industry over the opioid epidemic, accusing several drug companies of conducting marketing campaigns that misled doctors and patients about the danger of addiction and overdose. Ohio’s attorney general, Mike DeWine, sued the drug makers in a case similar to one that was filed by Mississippi in 2015 and is still pending. In another case, West Virginia went after major drug distributors and has reached settlements that will pay the state tens of millions of dollars. The City of Chicago, and counties in New York, California and West Virginia, have all started litigation. (Perez-Pena, 5/31)

Attorney General Mike DeWine said the companies created a deadly mess in Ohio that they now need to pay to clean up. “This lawsuit is about justice, it’s about fairness, it’s about what is right,” DeWine said in announcing the complaint filed in Ross County, a southern Ohio community slammed by fatal drug overdoses from painkillers and heroin. (Smyth, 5/31)

“These drug manufacturers led prescribers to believe that opioids were not addictive, that addiction was an easy thing to overcome, or that addiction could actually be treated by taking even more opioids” [DeWine] said in a statement. “They knew they were wrong, but they did it anyway — and they continue to do it. Despite all evidence to the contrary about the addictive nature of these pain medications, they are doing precious little to take responsibility for their actions and to tell the public the truth.” (Silverman, 5/31)

The complaint, filed in state court in Ross County on Wednesday, targets parent companies and various subsidiaries, including Purdue Pharma L.P.; Johnson & Johnson; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.; Allergan PLC; and Endo International PLC’s Endo Health Solutions unit. Johnson & Johnson denied the allegations. The other companies either declined to comment or said officials were reviewing the allegations. (Whalen, 5/31)

Ohio is among the first states to sue drug companies in the middle of a growing national battle with opioid addiction and overdose deaths, with Ohio at the epicenter. (Borchadt, 5/31)