WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions proposed new regulations on Tuesday that could severely limit the amount of highly addictive opioid pain medication that drug companies can produce and force them to account for scores of illegitimate prescriptions across the country.

The regulations would change how the Drug Enforcement Administration sets production quotas for drug companies. Those companies would have to work with states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal and state agencies to justify the number of pills they send to medical providers.

“Under this proposed new rule, if D.E.A. believes that a company’s opioids are being diverted for misuse, then they will reduce the amount of opioids that company can make,” Mr. Sessions said at an appearance in Raleigh, N.C., according to prepared remarks.

The proposal allowed Mr. Sessions to put pressure on the powerful pharmaceutical industry without punishing it for the opioid crisis, which in 2016 contributed to more than 42,000 deaths in the United States, according to the C.D.C. While the change allows the drug agency to more actively track where pharmaceutical companies send their products, a 2016 law hamstrings the ability of the agency, which is part of the Department of Justice, to stop shipments.