From a press release - As the United States continues to grapple with the opioid and heroin epidemic, a bill introduced by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) to hold drug manufacturers accountable for misleading advertising and negligent distribution practices today received the support of a bipartisan group of Attorneys General from 39 U.S. states and territories.

In a letter addressed to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, the AGs highlighted the importance of holding drug manufacturers accountable and urged support for Senator Cantwell’s Comprehensive Addiction Reform, Education, and Safety (CARES) Act, provisions of which are also included in CARA 2.0, a comprehensive opioid education, treatment, and recovery bill co-sponsored by Senator Cantwell.

“CARES increases penalties on drug manufacturers that fail to report suspicious transactions and maintain effective controls against diversion,” the AGs wrote. “Diversion of prescription opioids has devastated communities in our states. The consequences for turning a blind eye to suspicious opioid orders cannot merely be a cost of doing business. We urge you to support CARA 2.0 and the CARES Act to ensure that penalties effectively hold manufacturers accountable and help stem diversion.”

The CARES Act strengthens federal penalties on drug companies that fail to monitor and report suspicious opioid distribution, while also increasing transparency into existing federal oversight of opioid manufacturing, advertising, and distribution. It increases the federal civil and criminal penalties on companies that fail to prevent their drugs from entering illicit markets, provides transparency about opioid manufacturers that break the law, provides resources to investigate bad actors, and authorizes additional funding to target and dismantle illicit heroin trafficking organizations. The bill is cosponsored by California Senator Kamala Harris.

The letter was signed by the Attorneys General of Ohio, Washington, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Virginia.

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