State Government Could Be Banned from Buying Opioid Overdose Reversal Drugs From Companies That Contributed to Opioid Crisis

Sen. Mike Yakawich, R-Billings, compares the state’s purchase of overdose reversal drugs like naloxone from companies that have contributed to the opioid crisis to “paying the arsonist to put out his own fire.”

Yakawich is carrying Senate Bill 112, which would ban government purchase of opioid overdose reversal drugs from companies like Purdue Pharma and Hikma Pharmaceuticals. The bill passed the Senate Feb. 4 on a 49-1 vote and is now scheduled for a hearing in the House Human Services Committee on Feb. 17.

Attorneys General across the country have accused Hikma of failing to monitor and repo...