New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general from across the country who will investigate whether pharmaceutical companies are engaged in any unlawful practices in the marketing and distribution of prescription opioids. Information and documents were demanded of Endo International plc, Purdue Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd./Cephalon Inc. and Allergan Inc.

Also under scrutiny are Amerisource Bergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson which handle 90 percent of the opioid distribution in the U.S, and make about $500 billion per year in revenue. “Too often, prescription opioids are the on-ramp to addiction for millions of Americans,” said Schneiderman in a release. “We’re committed to getting to the bottom of a broken system that has fueled the epidemic and taken far too many lives.”

Schneiderman in the release says that agreements with insurers have put an end to requiring prior authorization for medication-assisted treatment (“MAT”). But Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said earlier this year the MAT is “ … just substituting one opioid for another, we’re not moving the dial much.”