Arizona Attorney General moves against Purdue Pharma

The Arizona Attorney General’s office has taken legal action against Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of the opioid painkiller OxyContin.

The filing Monday in Pima County Superior Court alleges that Purdue engaged in deceptive and misleading marketing to push opioids, in violation of a prior court order issued in 2007 in connection with the state’s Consumer Fraud Act.

Attorney General Mark Brnovich says countless Arizona residents have been harmed by the opioid crisis that has swept across the U.S. and companies that use advertising that hide the risks of those drugs should be held accountable.

Robert Josephson, executive director of communications for Purdue Pharma, denied the state’s allegations and said it had shared FDA-approved information with those people prescribing the drug.

Josephson says: “We share the state’s concern about the opioid crisis.”