By Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday will announce legal action involving an opioid manufacturer, the department said in a statement as officials have sought to stem the decades-long public health crisis involving painkiller addiction.
U.S. officials will “announce the results of the global resolution of criminal and civil investigations with an opioid manufacturer,” at a news conference scheduled for 11 a.m. (1500 GMT), it said.
The department did not identify the company involved.
But U.S. officials have been seeking to negotiate a settlement with Purdue Pharma LP, maker of the addictive pain drug OxyContin, and members of the wealthy Sackler family that own the drugmaker.
Painkiller addiction has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the United States since 1999 while communities have sought to grapple with the financial and societal costs of the overdose crisis.
