1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i State and Local Governments Pursue Judicial Solutions to the Opioid Epidemic December 6, 2018 Given the severity of the opioid epidemic and its prominence as a matter of national concern, efforts to comba
2、t the issue are of significant interest to Congress. Federal, state, and local lawmakers and executive branch agencies continue to develop and implement a wide range of responses to this problem. In addition to these efforts, courts are also involved in the nationwide battle against opioids. A growi
3、ng number of states, municipalities, tribal governments, hospitals, insurers, individuals, and other plaintiffs have filed numerous legal challenges against opioid manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, health insurers, prescribing physicians, and other defendants. Despite the array of federal and
4、 state law claims advanced in these lawsuits, what is at the heart of these cases is the same: questions about who is legally accountable for the devastating consequences of the opioid epidemic. State and local governments have initiated many of the recent opioid-related cases. These governmental pl
