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Tennessee attorney general outlines multistate opioid investigations and litigation strategy
Summary
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slattery III described multistate civil investigations and lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors, referenced ongoing bankruptcies and multidistrict litigation, and called for directing funds toward local treatment and recovery services.
Herbert Slattery III, Tennessee’s attorney general, described the multistate approach his office and other attorneys general are taking against opioid manufacturers and distributors, including investigative tools such as civil investigative demands and coordinated lawsuits.
"We have 5 people a day who die from overdose deaths," Slattery said as he described the urgency of the epidemic and explained the multistate investigations, multidistrict litigation in federal court, and company bankruptcies that shape the path to accountability. He discussed the need to channel settlement funds to local treatment programs, drug courts and other recovery services.
Slattery noted the practical advantages of coordinated AG actions, including the ability to issue civil investigative demands that gather information without immediate filing of litigation, and he compared the structure of multistate work to the tobacco master settlement as an example of cross-jurisdictional leverage.
He said the process is complex and expensive but that states are working to produce local treatment and prevention investments as part of any resolution.
