Sessions unveils new task force targeting opioid manufacturers, distributors

FAN Editor

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has unveiled the Department of Justice’s latest task force as part of Sessions’ ongoing campaign to combat the nation’s crippling opioid epidemic. The Prescription Interdiction and Litigation Task Force, or PILS, aims to target opioid manufacturers and distributors who have contributed to the epidemic.

Sessions said through criminal and civil penalties, “whatever laws and tools we have” will be used to “hold people accountable if they break our laws.”

The effort will have DOJ officials working closely with HHS as well as law enforcement officials at all levels to examine potential legislative and regulatory changes in existing laws.

According to the DOJ, the tasks force will include senior officials from the offices of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, and the Associate Attorney General, as well as senior officials from the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the Civil Division, the Criminal Division, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Sessions said he is ordering the group to “examine existing state and lawsuits on manufacturers to determine where we can be of assistance.”

The DOJ will also file statement of interest in a lawsuit against number of opioid manufactures and distributors for allegedly using false and deceptive marketing for opioid drugs

“We will go to court to ensure the American people will see the compensation they deserve,” Sessions said.

He said the DOJ will continue to attack the opioid crisis from “every angle” and bring down the number of prescriptions on the market today, including filing lawsuits for damages on behalf of victims.

Sessions added that the Department would be looking to see what other civil and criminal action they can take to stop drug manufactures and distributors, including the ability to pull professionals licenses if they’re not complying with the law.

He also took Tuesday’s announcement to announce the hiring of Mary Daly as the DOJ’s Opioid Coordinator to lead the department’s anti-opioid efforts. Daly previosuly served as a U.S. Attorney in New York and Virginia where she supervised narcotics units.

In an effort to curb the nation’s crippling epidemic, Sessions has since unveiled efforts including increased funding and manpower for state and local law enforcement partners, a pilot program focused specifically on opioid-related health care fraud and more aggressive prosecution of opioid-related drug crimes.

Sessions has said that fighting the opioid epidemic is a priority of the Trump administration, as well as his Justice Department.

Free America Network Articles

Leave a Reply

Next Post

Russian truce plan fails to halt bombing of Syria’s Ghouta

FILE PHOTO: A man inspects a damaged house in the besieged town of Douma in eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria, February 22, 2018. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh February 27, 2018 By Angus McDowall and Stephanie Nebehay BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) – A Russian call for a five-hour truce on Tuesday failed to halt one […]