McCaskill report shows 1.6 billion doses of opioids sent into Missouri over six-year period

(From Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-MO)

I hear this story too often: someone pulls me aside after a town hall to tell a heartbreaking story of opioid addiction in their families.

Sometimes it's an overdose death. Sometimes it's a lack of treatment facilities. So often it's a feeling of helplessness from on a family member who just wants to help.

It's a heartbreaking reality, and I wanted to do everything I could to help and investigate the opioid manufacturers and distributors. So last year I launched an investigation to start digging into the issue more - to find out exactly how we got here in the first place.

You may remember our last couple of reports on this issue. But the latest one in this series -- the third -- shows some really shocking stuff.

You can read the latest report here.

When I saw that 1.6 BILLION doses of opioids were sent into Missouri over a 6 year period, even knowing how serious the problem is, I was still surprised.

That is hundreds of doses for every Missouri resident.

It's 260 pills, on average, for every single man, woman, and child in our state.

In 2015 -- the peak year for opioid shipments to Missouri this report covered -- the three major distributors shipped approximately 52 opioid dosage units per person in the state. That's a staggering number.

This report shows that suspicious shipments are a problem.

It shows there may not be a uniform way of enforcing and complying with the laws as it relates to suspicious shipments.

It shows that the DEA is doing less and not more than it should on the problem of suspicious shipments.

And maybe most importantly, it shows too many suspicious shipments and opioid related deaths in the small communities along the borders of our state.

This is a problem in Nixa, in Rolla, in West Plains, in Maryville -- it is all over our state.

The opioid crisis these pills have fueled is a failure of policy and oversight by the government and a failure of basic human morality on the part of many pharmaceutical companies and distributors --a failure that has destroyed families and communities all over our state.

I won't stop fighting for Missouri families to hold those responsible for this epidemic accountable.