Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced an ongoing investigation to help address the opioid crisis in Nevada and around the country.
The Office of the Nevada Attorney General has been working with a bipartisan coalition of a majority of attorneys general from across the country in an ongoing investigation to evaluate whether manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing and sale of opioids.
The attorneys general are investigating what role the opioid manufacturers may have played in creating or prolonging this epidemic. The coalition of attorneys general is using its investigative tools, including subpoenas for documents and testimony, to determine the appropriate course of action to address the opioid epidemic.
Nationwide and in Nevada, opioids — prescription and illicit — are the main driver of drug overdose deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids were involved in 33,091 nationwide deaths in 2015, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999. In 2016, Nevada was ranked as the sixth highest state for the number of milligrams of opioids distributed per adult according to a study by the Drug Enforcement Agency.
The Office is not identifying the targets of its investigation at this time.
