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Following Salt Lake County’s lead, five more counties plan suits against opioid makers

Just about a month ago, Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes made a pitch to county governments struggling to deal with the havoc wreaked by opioid addiction statewide: Why not sue the $11 billion pharmaceutical industry that brought the problem to Utah’s door?

Little did the Draper Republican know how quickly county governments would get on board.

At least five counties — Cache, Davis, Utah, Washington and Weber — have so far either passed, or are considering, resolutions to take legal action against Big Pharma, said Lincoln Shurtz, director of external relations for the Utah Association of Counties (UAC).