Tennessee attorney general won't file suit against Big Pharma

Abuse of opioids such as the oxycodone-acetaminophen pictured have led to a second straight year of life expectancy in the United States to be lowered.
Abuse of opioids such as the oxycodone-acetaminophen pictured have led to a second straight year of life expectancy in the United States to be lowered.

What was set to be a fierce legal battle over power - and money - in the effort to hold Big Pharma responsible for the costs of the opioid epidemic instead proved a ceremonial surrender.

Campbell County Circuit Court Judge John McAfee took to the bench Thursday for an unusual war between state prosecutors and the state Attorney General's office over who has the power to sue Big Pharma for lying about the addictive properties of opiate prescription painkillers and distributors for supplying it to the addicts the drug created.

But within seconds, the battle was over. A representative of Attorney General Herbert Slatery's office read a statement, with no recitation of law, and handed McAfee an order in which Slatery had agreed to back down.

Read more at our news partner's website, knoxnews.com.

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