The attorneys general ofMaryland, Wisconsin, Iowa, West Virginia and Kansas announced thelatest suits on Thursday, bringing the total number of states suingPurdue to more than 40. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Purdue Pharma LP and its billionaire owners are being sued byfive more states alleging the company's aggressive marketing of theOxyContin painkiller triggered a vast addiction epidemic that has claimed hundreds ofthousands of lives in the U.S.

The attorneys general of Maryland, Wisconsin, Iowa, WestVirginia and Kansas announced the latest suits on Thursday in ajoint statement. Filed by both Republicans and Democrats, thecomplaints add to a wave of litigation accusing Purdue and theSackler family, which owns the company, of knowingly pushingdoctors to prescribe OxyContin even for minor pain.

Related: Insys CEO convicted of opioidracketeering

The suits, filed separately, include claims specific to eachstate. They bring the number of states that have sued Purdue overopioids to more than 40.

“Purdue Pharma vigorously denies the allegations in the lawsuitsfiled today and will continue to defend itself against thesemisleading attacks,” spokesman Bob Josephson said in astatement.

He added that “the states cannot link the conduct alleged to theharm described, and so they have invented stunningly overbroadlegal theories.” Josephson noted that a North Dakota judge lastweek threw out that state's suit seeking to hold Purdue accountablefor millions in tax dollars spent to deal with the fallout fromopioid addiction and overdoses.

In the North Dakota decision, Judge James Hill accepted thedrugmaker's arguments that federal law supersedes state law when itcomes to drug regulation and that Purdue can't be held responsiblefor what happens to painkillers after it produces them. The company“has no control over its product after it is sold to distributors,then to pharmacies, and then prescribed to customers,'' hesaid.

“The state's effort to hold one company to account for thisentire, complex public-health issue oversimplifies the problem,”the judge added.

North Dakota is appealing the decision.

The five lawsuits filed today follow one earlier this week byPennsylvania's attorney general, Josh Shapiro, which alleges thatPurdue's sales force made visits to doctor's offices and pharmaciesin his state more than half a million times to push physicians tooverprescribe OxyContin and ignore early signs of addiction.Competitors and distributors including Johnson & Johnson andCardinal Health Inc. have also been sued.

“There is nothing natural about this epidemic — it wasmanufactured in part by Purdue Pharma, as the company deceptivelymarketed OxyContin despite knowing the risk of addiction,” Shapirosaid in a statement announcing his lawsuit.

J&J has disputed the assertion that it was a major player inthe opioid-painkiller market or that it acted improperly. CardinalHealth has said it “cares deeply about the opioid epidemic” and hasworked for more than a decade to highlight “the dangers ofover-prescribing.”

More updates on the opioidepidemic: 

• Florida AG targets Walgreens, CVS in amended opioidlawsuit
• The tech industry wades into the fight againstopioid abuse
• There's a new, more powerful opioid on themarket

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