S.C. Attorney General Investigating Drug Manufacturers

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is working with other attorneys general from across the country to investigate whether drug manufactures have "engaged in unlawful practices in marketing the sale of opioids." 

Wilson said the investigation is ongoing.

"We're not pointing the finger at any one person in the distribution, our any one group, we're looking at this holistically and trying to determine the best way for South Carolina to attack and combat this epidemic to keep our citizens safe," he said.

The attorney general said the opioid problem has been going on for at least four decades and he and his staff want to see change. He said a consumer protection division is working to gather as much information from these manufactures and on down the line. 

The South Carolina Attorney General's Office said "Nationwide and in South Carolina, opioids—prescription and illicit—are the main driver of drug overdose deaths.  Opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths in 2015, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999."

Wilson said they are looking to the manufactures for more information.

"Maybe they knew this drug was far more addictive than they let on and purposely withheld that information, there are all kinds of things that we have to look into to determine if in fact that is true, and if it is then we have to make a decision on how to make that individual accountable," he said.