How Did Texas End Up Subsidizing the Expansion of a Distributor at the Heart of the Opioid Crisis?

Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a $9.75 million grant from the Texas Enterprise Fund to entice a pharmaceutical distributor to expand in Las Colinas. Now, Texas and 40 other states are investigating whether that distributor, McKesson Corp., had a role in the nation's growing opioid crisis. That's put the state in an embarrassing situation on several fronts. The first issue: No state wants to be in the position of subsidizing the expansion of a company it then has to turn around and investigate. McKesson has been has been at the center of a number of similar opioid-related investigations and lawsuits in Texas and across the nation. The opioid epidemic, while not as endemic in Texas as in other states, is not a new development — nor are allegations that drugmakers and distributors could have done more to make the addictive pills less plentiful.McKesson has denied any wrongdoing and company spokeswoman Kristin Chasen has said its partnership with the state "remains strong." She has said the company is cooperating with the attorneys general from Texas and the other states involved in the investigation. And shortly after President Donald Trump recently declared the opioid crisis a "national public health emergency," McKesson made several recommendations for how the federal government could reduce opioid abuse or misuse.  Continue reading...