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 In a statement, the U.S. Justice Department and Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) said the proposed cut would be in keeping with
President Donald Trump's effort to cut opioid prescription fills by
one-third within three years.
Trump on Thursday also pressed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions
to sue drug manufacturers over the opioid crisis.
"I’d like to bring a federal lawsuit against those companies," Trump
said during a meeting of his Cabinet at the White House. He did not
name the companies.
Addiction to opioids - mainly prescription painkillers, heroin and
fentanyl - is a growing U.S. problem, especially in rural areas.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids
were involved in more than 49,000 deaths in the country last year.
The Justice Department and the DEA said they are proposing to cut
production quotas for oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone,
hydromorphone, morphine, and fentanyl by 7 percent to 15 percent,
depending on the compound, in 2019.
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Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed by states, counties and cities
against opioid manufacturers including Purdue Pharmaceuticals LP,
Endo International Plc <ENDP.O>, Mallinckrodt Plc <MNK.N> and
Johnson & Johnson <JNJ.N> seeking to hold them responsible for
contributing to the epidemic.
Those companies were not immediately available for comment.
In March, Trump unveiled a plan to get tough on opioids, including
cutting opioid prescriptions by changing federal programs, funding
for other initiatives and stiffer sentencing laws for drug dealers.
He also suggested the death penalty for dealers, a proposal that has
gained little support from drug abuse and judicial experts.
(Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Steve Holland in Washington and Michael
Erman in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Susan Thomas)
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