Nine Michigan Municipalities Part Of Federal Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers

MACOMB (WWJ) - The opioid crisis is taking lives -- with over 100 Americans dying every day from an opioid overdose. Now nine Michigan municipalities are doing something about it. Several federal lawsuits are being filed against opioid manufacturers and the companies that distribute the drugs.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel was at the press conference this morning, which was held in the county's morgue:

"I think the reason we had this here --just to make sure people understood -- there's a real issue here," said Hackel.

In Macomb County last year, more people lost their lives to opioid or heroine overdoses than to gun violence and car accidents combined.

Attorney Mark Bernstein represents the cities. He explains what these drug companies are doing. "The first is the minimizing the perception of the addictive quality of these drugs and the second was pushing these drugs through a pipeline -- a distribution pipeline -- to the end user.

Medical Examiner Dr. Daniel Spitz described what happens to your body when you die from opioids.

"What you might see is someone's lungs are very congested -- there's a lot of blood and fluid within the lungs," said Spitz.

Macomb and Genesee Counties, Detroit and Lansing are some of the municipalities filing the lawsuits.