Oklahoma Attorney General Sues Opioid Manufacturers

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter filed a lawsuit against four pharmaceutical companies, accusing them of fueling the state’s opioid epidemic by misleading doctors and pharmacists about the dangers of the drugs.

Reggie Whitten of FATE.Org applauds the move. His son, Brandon Whitten was the kind of son any dad would be proud of.

"My son was the homecoming king at Westmoore High School. He ended up playing college football." Whitten said.

That's when Brandon became addicted to pain pills. He was on those pills when he crashed his car, killing his girlfriend. Just three years later, he died when he crashed his motorcycle. Again, he was on pills. 

"This is an epidemic and it acts like it's a chameleon. It acts like it's bad behavior but it's really not.  It's good people who get addicted." Whitten said.

Whitton started FATE- Fighting Addiction Through Education, to try to stop addiction before it begins. 

The Attorney General’s suit targets Purdue Pharma, Allergan, Cephalon and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. 

“These companies have made in excess of $10 billion a year while creating a generation of Oklahomans who have become addicts, convicts or have met their death from opioid overdoses," Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said. 

Whitten said the companies should pay for the problems they've caused, and for taking his son.

"One of the last things he ever told me, he said ‘Dad, I didn't know that if I started I couldn't stop.'”

We did reach out to the four companies named in the suit. They did not get back to us in time for this report. 

To learn more about opioid addiction, visit: www.fate.org.