Exactly three years ago, Donald Trump declared the ongoing opioid epidemic a national emergency. But despite big commitments from the Trump administration, Senator Susan Collins and her Washington Republican allies have remained unwilling to take action against the companies fueling this crisis. Analysis of a Government Accountability Office report found that Trump’s declaration led to “very little” and new data shows signs that the crisis is accelerating in Maine.
Senator Collins has voted repeatedly to shield opioid manufacturers from accountability for their role in fueling this crisis and to make it harder for people struggling with substance use disorder to access treatment. In 2018 she voted against an amendment that would have created civil penalties for pharmaceutical companies that illegally distributed and marketed opioid products. Collins also cast two deciding votes to block amendments aimed at supporting Americans in recovery, one to penalize insurers that failed to extend equal coverage for addiction treatment and another to allocate an additional $242 million to the fight against the opioid crisis.
Collins’ record of voting in favor of opioid manufacturers comes alongside her history of personally profiting off of the big pharma companies responsible for the opioid crisis in Maine and accepting $110,000 from the corporate PACs of the top six opioid distributors in the country. She also took donations from Purdue Pharma’s corporate PAC before the company pled guilty to criminal charges for fraudulently marketing OxyContin.
“Senator Collins has made it clear that she won’t take action against the pharmaceutical companies bankrolling her reelection,” said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts. “Too many Maine families have been devastated by this crisis — we need a Senator who will hold big pharma accountable for misleading doctors and patients, not one who cashes checks from their corporate PACS.”
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