CHILLICOTHE, Ohio - Companies that make prescription opioids want a Ross County Common Pleas judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine that charged them with stoking Ohio's opioid epidemic by fraudulently marketing their products.

Legal briefs filed by Purdue Pharma, which makes Oxycontin, say U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements for its products preempt Ohio law, and DeWine's lawsuit also failed to prove the company's actions caused the harm he cites.

"The State does not identify a single physician who prescribed one of Purdue's opioid medications to any patient when it was allegedly medically unnecessary, much less, a physician who did so because of Purdue's allegedly misleading marketing or promotional materials," the company's legal filings say.

DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said the office is reviewing the drug companies' legal filings "and will file our response in due course." A hearing on the case is scheduled this month before Ross County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott W. Nusbaum. DeWine filed the case in Ross County because Southern Ohio was particularly hard hit by the opioid epidemic.

Ohio leads the nation in overdose deaths, and DeWine maintains the drug companies triggered the crisis by flooding the state with prescription painkillers. His lawsuit claims that in order to boost profits, the companies lied to physicians by overstating the drugs' benefits and downplaying their risks.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, approximately eight Ohioans die every day from unintentional drug overdoses. Last year, more than 4,000 Ohio residents died of unintentional drug overdoses, up 32.8 percent from 2015. The increased overdose rate is largely driven by opioids.

The lawsuit is among more than a dozen civil cases that states, cities and counties filed over the past year against the opioid industry. The strategy echoes lawsuits filed against tobacco companies that resulted in a 1999 settlement of more than $200 billion.

But pharmaceutical industry lawyers say the cases are different because the federal government determined their painkillers are safe and effective when used properly. Purdue's legal filing says that because the FDA approved Oxycontin's painkiller use and safety warnings, federal law blocks Ohio from pursuing legal remedies in state court.

Legal briefs the drug makers filed last week also say DeWine's action should be stayed until the FDA completes a pending scientific assessment of "the risks and benefits of opioid prescription."

The legal filing from Purdue, Teva, Cephalon, Janssen, Endo, Watson and Actavis drug companies said "staying this action until FDA completes its scientific analysis will aid this Court by allowing it to benefit from FDA's medical and regulatory expertise and avoid inconsistent rulings on issues presenting pending before the agency."