State Lawmaker Blasts Republicans For Not Passing Opioid Legislation
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Minnesota lawmakers adjourned the 2018 session failing to pass what was supposed to be landmark opioid reforms.
Advocates for people killed by opioids denounced Republican leaders on Tuesday at the State Capitol for leaving without passing the measures. They would have imposed a fee on pharmaceutical companies for opioid abuse and prevention programs.
One state lawmaker whose daughter died from an overdose said Republican leaders bent under pressure from drug companies, who she says caused the epidemic.
"They knew these drugs were addictive. They intentionally sent them out there to be sold to make billions of dollars on them, to addict our family members and knowing that they could overdose and die," Sen. Chris Eaton of Brooklyn Center said. "As far as I'm concerned, they killed them. And I am angry."
The Minnesota Department of Health reports 376 people died from opioid overdoses in 2017.