AG Ferguson Sues 3 Pharma Giants For 'Pouring' Opioids Into WA

SEATTLE, WA - Three of the largest prescription painkiller makers worsened the opioid crisis in Washington by pumping drugs like oxycodone and fentanyl into the state knowing the drugs would end up on the streets, Attorney General Bob Ferguson is alleging in a new lawsuit.

Ferguson filed a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical companies McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. in King County on Tuesday. Those companies ignored suspicious orders, violating laws that require drug companies to monitor the size and frequency of pill orders, the lawsuit says.

Ferguson is suing to penalize the companies, but he also wants them to give back profits they made selling opioids in Washington over the last decade or so. That money could be used for drug treatment and education, Ferguson said.

At some points, the pharmaceutical companies were shipping more pills into parts of the state than there were people. There were so many pills in Pend Orielle County in 2014, that "every single resident" could have had dozens, Ferguson said. In 2008, Spokane, Skagit, and Snohomish counties all had more opioid prescriptions that people, the lawsuit says.

Meanwhile, approximately 8,000 Washingtonians died between 2006 and 2017 of an opioid overdose.

"We are woefully under-resourced when it comes to treatment. The people who are responsible for this epidemic should be paying for it," Ferguson said in a statement. "We are going to hold these companies accountable and get more money into our communities for treatment."