By COURTNEY HESSLER, The Herald-Dispatch
ASHLAND, KY. — Government data show during a seven-year period, more than 141 million opioid prescription pills were shipped to four rural Appalachian counties bordering West Virginia’s southwestern border, which attorneys say fueled the opioid epidemic and made the area one of the most affected places in the country.
In those four counties – Boyd, Lawrence and Pike counties in Kentucky and Lawrence County, Ohio – two manufacturers made 80% of the pills, with Actavis Pharma Inc. creating 45% of the pills and SpecGx LLC accounting for 35%.
Distributor AmerisourceBergen accounted for more than a quarter of pills – 37.2 million – distributed in those counties, with more than 27.7 million of those being dispensed in Pike County, Ky, alone. …
