Ohio's Deadly Opioid Epidemic: The 5 Drugmakers Being Blamed for the Crisis

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is suing five big drugmakers, accusing them of fueling the state's addiction epidemic by misleading the public about the dangers of prescription painkillers.

The lawsuit follows the lead of other states like Kentucky and Oregon, which have sued drug companies in recent years in similar cases.

DeWine is going after Purdue Pharma; Endo Health Solutions; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and its subsidiary Cephalon; Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals; and Allergan.

The companies make OxyContin, Percocet and other painkillers that experts say are so dangerous.

Earlier this year, DeWine told CBN's Lorie Johnson, "We had a number of pharmaceutical companies that developed pain meds and they were pushing those out and they were telling the doctors, 'These are not very addictive.' Turns out they are very addictive."

Once addicted, some patients then turn to heroin, which is stronger and cheaper.

This addiction is killing Ohioans at a record rate. The Columbus Dispatch reported just last week that the Buckeye State continues to lead the nation in unintentional drug overdose deaths. At least 4,149 Ohioans died from it in 2016, a 36 percent jump from the previous year, when Ohio also led the nation in overdose deaths.

County coroners supplied the numbers and said they expect that 2017 will outpace 2016.

Janssen is calling the Ohio lawsuit's accusations legally and factually unfounded. Purdue Pharma won't say if it's challenging the lawsuit but said it shares DeWine's concerns about the epidemic and wants to work together on a solution. Teva, Endo and Allergan have not yet commented.

In 2015, Kentucky settled a similar lawsuit with Purdue Pharma for $24 million, and Oregon settled with another opioid painkiller manufacturer.

DeWine says he doesn't expect the Ohio suit to bring a quick fix and has created a heroin unit to go after the Mexican cartels that are bringing the drug into Ohio.

He's also promoting education as early as kindergarten and asking Ohio church leaders for help.

"What we see is that the programs that work," he said. "The treatment that works, many times has a faith-based component part to it."