email show aei scholar, who wrote tp sent a draft to purdue pharma's chief lobbyist a month before came his approval and making certain didn't seem to blatantly pro purdue. pretty stealthy. in 2007 that same scholar wrote an article entitled, oxymoron. it briefly chastise purdue for over promoting its trunks, but that it ascribed oxycontin as a godsend. officials might have prescribe it and sufficient qualities. the problem is that america does not have enough of it. as for the people who were stranded drop-dead, the article dismissed them as a committed substance abusers. the year that article appeared, 18,000 people died of opioid overdoses. more than double a few years before. the epidemic was raging out of control. according to aei's expert scholar, the real public health damage here comes from the pitch campaign by zealous prosecutors and advocates to demonize the drug itself. according to aei, the real crisis was the fact that not enough americans were taking oxycontin this was in effect add copy. no different than a glossy insert. in one way, one key way it was different. readers

movement so the government of the federal government were wanted us to write more pain medications purdue pharma says we have this medication we can educate physicians that were kind of off to the races and actually physicians were actually graded on how many pain medicines they gave a patient satisfaction scores with doc in the box under so much pressure to see more and more and more patients how much is managed care to blame the prescriptions are very easy to write here's the minute prescription you gave me money i give you a prescription is a fair deal that's not the way medicine should be run maybe we need to talk to patients look at other options that do take time and i'm sorry that may not be very efficient but that's the right way to move forward. health and human services secretary alex as our admits we have effective tools such as medication assisted treatment but we still need better ways to treat opioid addiction and manage pain in an effective personalized way and he's putting our money where his mouth is nearly a beanie $1000000000.00 this fiscal year to fund the helping to end addi

the way doctors started thinking about painting and when that was combined with advertising like purdue pharma that convinced doctors opioid or not actually addicted in combination as lead a situation where people were receiving morphine pills than ever before there were still mills and people who have legitimate needs for these pills found out when their prescriptions were finished that they were addicted to so many of them turned to street heroin and they represented the second wave of the opioid crisis. now as of the last five years or so it's almost impossible to find pure heroine anywhere it satisfied the same craving as prescription pills like oxycontin and heroin. the biggest difference is that it's 50 times stronger and so drug dealers use it as a cost-saving measure. a lot of times when people think they are buying heroine, what they are buying is a mixture of heroin and fentanyl and it kills them instantly and that is the epidemic. it is a drug that most people don't even want. talk about the pitfalls of the process of combining with another drug. what i found fascinating about the b

mike: there's talk about going after the purdue pharma people, they fought for $3 billion, new york'sney general, your counterpart announced this lawsuit, take a listen. >> the nation's most extensive lawsuit against the very companies and the family behind them. those who make, distribute and have misled the american people about the true dangers of these drugs. this lawsuit contains detailed allegations about the sackler family and their attempts to and the vast fortune they collected at the expense of actual lives. >> that was march 28th. what has happened since then? >> a couple things to west virginia i filed a lawsuit against purdue and one of the members of the sackler family and as we are trying to solve this problem there has to be accountability throughout the pharmaceutical supply channel so it not only means the companies that could be individuals as well knowingly misrepresenting the nature of these products so that is ongoing. we have been talking with the sackler and purdue about potential settlement, the bottom line for me i want to make sure west virginia is put first

this hearing has held meetings from bringing in purdue pharma to our bipartisan investigations last congress about the rise in fentanyl, opioid manufacturing, opioid industry. these early hearings informed our legislative work including the comprehensive addiction recovery act, the 21st century care act, the opioid crisis grants, and billions more in federal appropriations to boost programs that fight, treat, and stop substance abuse and support access to mental health services. these efforts culminated in the sieping of the support act. we've seen the results of 3.1% reduction in opioid deaths based on recent statistics from the cdc. i'm pleased we've continued to work together in this space. it's important. including by continuing our work on fentanyl and with this important hearing today examining how the states are utilizing the funding and authorities provided by congress. but there's so much more we could do together. earlier this year energy and commerce republicans published information about the substance abuse disorder treatment industry. the rfi built off the patient brokering and

right esper rorpts that purdue affirm pharma is the unnamed company in criminal charging documents filedek in a probe of illegal kick backs from opioid makers practice fusion admitted it solicited and received kickbacks in a scheme to get doctors to prescribe opioids. it battles opioid litigation and government probes, the latest impact could impact the proceedings. wilf, back to you. >> thank you, franke oking ahead at the big earns to expect tomorrow on the "closing bell. built for you. so why isn't it all about you, when it comes to your money? so. what's on your mind? we are edward jones, a 97-year-old firm built for right now. with one financial advisor per office, we're all about knowing what's important to you the one who matters. edward jones. it's time for investing to feel individual. or here on a wifi hotspot. lte xfinity mobile has more coverage to keep you connected to what matters most. that's because it's the only wireless network that automatically connects you to millions of secure wifi hotspots and the best lte everywhere else. save up to $400 a year when you switch. pl