https://www.npr.org/2019/09/16/761329037/lawsuits-highlight-government-failures-in-opioid-crisis
KATHERINE CLARK: We have systems in place in this country with the FDA, the DEA that are meant to protect the American people. And what has become abundantly clear is that, in the case of the opioid epidemic, these agencies have failed us.
MANN: This summer a federal court ordered the release of data collected by the Drug Enforcement Administration. It reveals that, as early as 2006, officials were tracking every opioid pill manufactured, distributed and then sold in pharmacies. As sales grew and overdose deaths surged, Clark says the DEA did little.
CLARK: Why were they ignoring the data they were collecting and allowing this opioid epidemic to wreak such havoc?
MANN: The DEA declined NPR's request for an interview about the opioid records it collected and the agency's response to that information. The federal government fought for months in court to keep this data secret. It was revealed only after The Washington Post and other news organizations sued. Scott Higham is a reporter for The Post who spoke on the NPR program Fresh Air.
