Here's my message to drug companies-- VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL MARK HERRING.

David, The roots of the opioid crisis run right through American medicine cabinets into the boardrooms and marketing offices of pharmaceutical companies. They need to be held accountable. These drug companies flooded this country with BILLIONS of pills. They cooked up sales incentives and marketing schemes to sell more and more pills. They found ways, often through deception or lies, to get doctors to prescribe more and more pills. At every step of the way they put profit over people, and they created the deadliest drug epidemic in the history of this nation. Like I told the Washington Post, opioid manufacturers and distributors need to realize that the party is over…and we’re coming for them. New data is shedding light on the unbelievable volume of pills these companies pushed into communities around the country, including right here in Virginia. Two Virginia cities actually had more pills shipped in than any other cities in the entire country. Data like that just confirms what you’ll hear if you talk to any police chief, any public health coordinator, or the mayor of any city. And the numbers confirm what you hear when you talk to the family of someone who is either struggling with opioid addiction or who died from an overdose. It starts with the pills. It always starts with the pills. It can be a fast and frightening fall from a sports injury or car accident or dental work, to opioid misuse, to opioid dependence, to cheaper, more potent opioids from the street like heroin or fentanyl. I’ve been working on this problem for years now with a comprehensive approach that includes education, prevention, treatment, and smart new laws to go along with enforcement against traffickers and drug companies. We’re starting to see some positive trends, but that doesn’t mean the problem is going away. I promise you that as...attorney general I’ll keep fighting for...all the Virginia families confronting this crisis, and for accountability for the drug companies responsible for this crisis. Mark.