8. Lobbying Against Regulation
To protect their profits, pharmaceutical companies invested millions in lobbying efforts aimed at blocking or weakening opioid-related regulations. Lobbyists worked closely with lawmakers to shape policies, delay enforcement, and undermine attempts to impose tighter controls on opioid distribution. As detailed by Reuters, these actions allowed Big Pharma to maintain the status quo, enabling continued overproduction and distribution even as the scope of the epidemic became clear.
