Bemidji Pioneer: How drug companies triumphed over the DEA in 2016 and kept opioids flowing

In April 2016, at the height of the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, Congress effectively stripped the Drug Enforcement Administration of its most potent weapon against large drug companies suspected of spilling prescription narcotics onto the nation's streets.

By then, the opioid war had claimed 200,000 lives, more than three times the number of U.S. military deaths in the Vietnam War. Overdose deaths continue to rise. There is no end in sight.

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/4344222-how-drug-companies-triumphed-over-dea-2016-and-kept-opioids-flowing