LANSING — Michigan became the first state to sue major opioid distributors as drug dealers when it filed a lawsuit against four corporations Tuesday, state Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

Named in the lawsuit, filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, are Cardinal Health Inc., McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. and Walgreens. Michigan is the 49th state to file some kind of legal action against the industry. Only Nebraska has not.

"These companies' failure to monitor, investigate, report and halt suspicious orders of prescription opioids are a direct and proximate cause of the widespread diversion of prescription opioids for nonmedical uses in Michigan — substantially contributing to the opioid epidemic and prescription opioid abuse, addiction and death in the state of Michigan," Nessel said during a news conference where she was joined by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan's chief medical executive, Joneigh Khaldun, M.D. "These companies have demonstrated both malice and aggravated and egregious fraud."

Each of the companies distributed more than 10 percent of the opioids sent to pharmacies nationwide from 2006 to 2012. A Walgreens spokesman said the company doesn't comment on pending litigation. AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson didn't immediately reply to messages seeking comment. The companies have previously argued that they functioned as a delivery service and kept federal authorities apprised of the quantities being shipped.

Nessel, a Democrat who took office nearly a year ago, said it took Michigan longer to sue than many other states and local governments because her predecessor, Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette, didn't do "a damn thing" to move forward against the industry. In response, Schuette said he would "make no apologies" for what he said was an aggressive approach to fighting opioids.

Nessel also said Michigan's lawsuit is novel because it targets distributors under a 1994 state law that was enacted to combat illegal drug trafficking.

"In 2018, we lost more than 2,000 Michiganders to opioid overdoses; that's more than five people each day," Khaldun said in a news release. "The actions being taken by the Attorney General today will help ensure that those who contributed to the crisis bear responsibility and bring desperately needed resources into the state to save the lives of those caught in the crisis today."

In its lawsuit, the state charges that the companies:

distributed and sold opioids in ways that facilitated and encouraged their flow into the illegal, secondary market and without maintaining effective controls against the diversion of opioids;

chose not to effectively monitor, investigate, report or stop suspicious orders;

distributed and sold opioids prescribed by "pill mills" when these companies knew or should have known the opioids were being prescribed by said "pill mills."

Nessel said the four companies owe Michigan for increased costs related to law enforcement, drug rehabilitation, early childhood and special needs education, and health care, including for infants born to opioid-dependent women. She said she hopes Michigan can recoup more than $1 billion from the industry.

Nessel is among about half of the nation's attorneys general who reached a tentative settlement proposal with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, which is in bankruptcy court as part of the deal. The settlement could be worth up to $12 billion over time. Nessel's office also has been involved in settlement negotiations with other entities, a spokeswoman said.