MADISON - The makers of the powerful and addictive painkiller OxyContin used deceptive marketing to persuade doctors to prescribe the opioid that contributed to a national epidemic of addiction, a lawsuit filed by Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul alleges.

Wisconsin is one of a handful of states that filed lawsuits this week alleging Purdue Pharma and Richard Sackler — creators of the drug — peddled false information to downplay the risky side effects of using OxyContin to kill pain and inflated the drug's benefits.

"The opioid epidemic was not inevitable," Kaul told reporters at a news conference with Gov. Tony Evers at the Wisconsin Capitol. "This epidemic has torn families apart. It has led to the overdose deaths of thousands of Wisconsinites. It has strained our foster care services. It has strained our health care system. It has strained our criminal justice system."

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The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Dane County Circuit Court and seeks compensation for harm done to Wisconsin residents by the opioid manufacturer, civil penalties and to bar the manufacturer from continuing to advertise the painkiller as having health benefits.

In a statement, Purdue Pharma officials said the attorneys general filing lawsuits this week are waging their own campaign of misinformation.

"Purdue Pharma vigorously denies the allegations in the lawsuits filed today and will continue to defend itself against these misleading attacks," the statement said. "These complaints are part of a continuing effort to try these cases in the court of public opinion rather than the justice system."

The company said the states filing legal challenges "cannot link the conduct alleged to the harm described, and so they have invented stunningly overbroad legal theories" that should be thrown out of court.

A North Dakota county judge recently dismissed a similar lawsuit for oversimplifying the opioid addiction epidemic. In the order dismissing the case, the judge said Purdue Pharma "has no control over its product after it is sold" to pharmacies and prescribed by doctors.

"The state's effort to hold one company to account for this entire, complex public health issue oversimplifies the problem," the judge wrote.

Kaul said whether the narcotic should be banned in Wisconsin is a question for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and said it can be helpful for people dealing with cancer or in palliative care.

But he said the aim of the lawsuit is to make the drugmaker inform the public of OxyContin's dangerous side effects.

The lawsuit alleges since 1999 — four years after OxyContin was released — the number of drug overdose deaths in the United States involving an opioid increased by nearly 500%, from about 8,000 to more than 47,000 in 2017. More than 7,000 people in Wisconsin have died by overdosing on opioids between 2000 and 2017, the lawsuit says.

"For the first time since World War I, the United States has sustained a multiyear decline in life expectancy, which has been directly linked to the opioid crisis," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit comes as the company is considering bankruptcy, which could upend lawsuits filed by Wisconsin and dozens of other states alleging Purdue Pharma held a major role in causing the national opioid drug crisis.

In 2007, Purdue Pharma paid a $19.5 million to Wisconsin and 25 other states over the same marketing practices. Kaul said the new lawsuit alleges the company's false information campaigns continue.

On its website, Purdue Pharma urges the public to remember OxyContin "exposes users to the risks of opioid addiction, abuse, and misuse."

"Because extended-release products such as OxyContin deliver the opioid over an extended period of time, there is a greater risk for overdose and death due to the larger amount of oxycodone present," the company says.

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Purdue Pharma says it did not create false marketing campaigns but a 2012 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation shows the company produced a promotional video featuring "success stories" of patients with chronic pain who were treated with OxyContin that included several people who later died or became addicted to the drug.

The investigation, in part, prompted a U.S. Senate investigation that year into financial relationships between drug manufacturers and advocates of the drugs.

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.