Opioid Manufacturer Lawsuit

Rhode Islanders bear the burden of the cost of the opioid epidemic as the price of treatment for addiction, education and law enforcement continue to rise. In 2020, 384 Rhode Islanders died from drug overdoses, the majority involved opioids and was a 25% increase over the previous year.

• As a former city council president, Lt. Governor Matos is committed to advancing the interests of Rhode Island’s cities and towns and ensuring they have a voice at the State House.
• Opioid manufacturing companies pushed highly addictive, dangerous opioids, falsely representing to doctors that patients would only rarely succumb to drug addiction, while the distributors breached their legal duties to monitor, detect, investigate, refuse and report suspicious orders of prescription opioids.
• Lt. Governor Matos and municipal leaders are working with a consortium of law firms to hold pharmaceutical wholesale distributors accountable for failing to do what they were charged with doing under the federal Controlled Substances Act – monitor, identify and report suspicious activity in the size and frequency of opioid shipments to pharmacies and hospitals.