President Trump threatens to sue opioid makers, says crisis is 'warfare'

John Fritze | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Donald Trump puts opioid drugmakers in crosshairs President Donald Trump asked his Cabinet to "bring a major lawsuit against the drug companies on opioid."

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to sue drugmakers that manufacture opioids, mimicking an approach embraced by dozens of cities and states wrestling with huge increases in overdose deaths.

During a Cabinet meeting, the president asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to bring a lawsuit against companies selling opioids and tasked him with looking into legal action to stop drug trafficking from China and Mexico, which he accused of “sending their garbage and killing our people.”

"I’d like us to look at some of the litigation that’s already been started with companies," Trump told Sessions during the meeting. "Rather than just joining them I’d like to bring a federal lawsuit against those companies.”

The Trump administration filed a "statement of interest" in March in a lawsuit brought by cities, states and others that have sued drug manufacturers. That filing noted the "substantial costs and significant interest" the federal government has in the epidemic.

"Part of what may be motivating him is a desire to show that the federal government is in front in the litigation," said Abbe R. Gluck, a professor at Yale Law School and the faculty director at the Solomon Center for Health Policy and Law.

But there are also a number of legal reasons why it might make sense for the federal government to embrace a larger role. For one, it would give the Trump administration more influence over any large award granted in the case, which is being heard in the Northern District of Ohio.

Greater federal involvement could also undermine a claim made by drugmakers that state and local jurisdictions are not entitled to sue over a federal law at the center of their litigation. Finally, Gluck said, the federal government brings criminal enforcement authority to the table.

This week, New York state was the latest to sue Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, alleging that the company downplayed the risk of addiction in its marketing.

Trump declared the opioid crisis a national health emergency in October. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that 72,000 Americans died of a drug overdose last year, a 10 percent increase over 2016.

It's not clear when – of even if – the administration will follow through on Trump's request. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the pharmaceutical industry's trade group, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump also turned to the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl.

"Whatever you can do from a legal standpoint – whether it's litigation, lawsuits, for people and companies," Trump told Sessions. "In China, you have some pretty big companies sending that garbage and killing our people. It's almost a form of warfare."

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