Justice Department Goes After Doctors, Foreign Nationals, Black Market In Latest Crackdown On Opioid Epidemic
“Today’s announcements are a warning to every trafficker, every crooked doctor or pharmacist, and every drug company, every chairman and foreign national and company that puts greed before the lives and health of the American people,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions says.
The New York Times:
Snaring Doctors And Drug Dealers, Justice Dept. Intensifies Opioid Fight
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced another crackdown on Wednesday on opioids, targeting doctors and drug dealers alike in cases that spanned physicians’ offices in Ohio, drugmakers in China and online black markets. ... His announcement came a week after President Trump asked Mr. Sessions during a cabinet meeting at the White House to sue companies that supplied opioids and to investigate opioid trafficking from China and Mexico, calling the flood of drugs from those countries “almost a form of warfare.” The president, who campaigned on targeting the opioid crisis, has also set a goal to reduce opioid prescriptions by one-third in three years. (Benner, 8/22)
The Associated Press:
AG Jeff Sessions Addresses US Opioid Epidemic In Cleveland
Those actions included the country's first-ever civil injunction that has barred two Ohio doctors from prescribing drugs; the indictment of two Chinese nationals accused of shipping powerful synthetic opioids around the globe; and a recent operation to shut down the country's biggest "dark net" distributor of drugs. Sessions said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently estimated there were 72,000 fatal drug overdoses in the country last year, adding that recent data show the number of deaths may be leveling off. (Gillispie, 8/22)
The Washington Post:
Justice Department Fights Opioid Abuse On Dark Web And In Doctors’ Offices
Federal prosecutors allege that Matthew and Holly Roberts of San Antonio were two of the biggest drug dealers on the dark web, completing nearly 3,000 verified transactions on various underground marketplaces between 2011 and 2018 — including the largest number of verified fentanyl transactions on the dark web. Prosecutors said they operated under the name “MH4Life.” They could not be reached for comment Wednesday. In addition to the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, which has caused the number of overdose deaths nationwide to skyrocket, authorities allege the couple possessed and distributed fentanyl analogues, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, Xanax and other drugs. They allegedly bought postage with cryptocurrency to conceal their intent and used glow bracelets and other items to hide that they were mailing drugs, authorities said. Customers used digital currency to buy the drugs and conceal the deals, prosecutors said. (Zezima, 8/22)