Since 2016, The Washington Post has been investigating the opioid epidemic that has ravaged communities and claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people nationwide.
On July 16, The Post disclosed a previously unreleased Drug Enforcement Administration database that tracks the path of every pain pill sold in the United States. The disclosure is part of a civil action brought by 2,500 cities, towns, counties and tribal nations alleging that nearly two dozen drug companies conspired to saturate the nation with opioids. The database and additional court exhibits were made public after a legal challenge by The Post and the owner of the Charleston Gazette-Mail in West Virginia.
