Opioid Epidemic

The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to using every available tool in our arsenal to combat the opioid epidemic. This is a vital concern, as people are dying from the illegal use of pills and needles across the District every day. Our goal is to prevent the proliferation of these dangerous drugs by working to reduce supply and decrease demand. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Hill serves as our District Opioid Coordinator. In addition, an Assistant U.S. Attorney has been assigned to coordinate opioid efforts in each or our five divisions. We also have two full-time Opioid Fraud Prescription Abuse Unit prosecutors.

We are working closely with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners; various State Attorneys’ Offices; the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Diversion Groups; and various task forces, including High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Forces, and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF).

Our Civil Division is pursuing False Claims Act cases and, where appropriate, it pursues civil claims against doctors, pharmacists, pharmacies, and others in the supply chain under the Controlled Substances Act.

In addition, we are working with law enforcement, communities, educators, and service providers to promote awareness of the dangers of opioids, share information, and coordinate training related to opioids.

We sincerely hope that this multifaceted approach to the opioid epidemic will ultimately save lives.