BOSTON (AP) - Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey is joining fellow attorneys general from across the country in broadening an investigation into the opioid industry.
Healey says the probe will look at whether drug-makers sought to increase profits by misrepresenting the dangers of prescription painkillers and ignoring the public health risks of spiking opioid sales.
Investigators are seeking information from five companies that make powerful prescription painkillers and three distributors. Forty-one attorneys general are involved in various parts of the civil investigation.
If the industry cooperates, the investigation could lead to a national settlement.
Healey told reporters Tuesday that she and her fellow attorneys general want to know what the companies knew about opioid addiction and when they knew it.
More than 2,000 people died from opioid-related overdoses in Massachusetts last year.
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