AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine’s attorney general says Purdue Pharma deceptively marketed opioid drugs in the Pine Tree State over a period of 10 years while the state’s opioid crisis worsened.
Attorney General Aaron Frey filed a complaint against Purdue and members of the family that owns it Monday. Frey says Purdue and the Sackler family “misled Maine consumers, and in doing so played a significant role in accelerating the opioid epidemic.”
The complaint says Maine prescribers wrote more opioid prescriptions after Purdue intensified sales efforts. Maine set a state record for drug overdose deaths in 2017 with 417. The number declined to 354 last year.
Attorneys general from California, Hawaii and the District of Columbia also filed lawsuits against Purdue Monday. Purdue has vowed to defend and has called the lawsuits “misleading attacks.”
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