Arkansas

Arkansas sues Minnesota's Optum over role in opioid crisis

Published

2 years ago

June 25, 2024

Arkansas sues Minnesota's Optum over role in opioid crisis

Arkansas is suing Minnesota-based Optum Inc. and another pharmacy benefits manager, Express Scripts, for fueling the opioid crisis.

Court documents describe “the misuse, abuse, diversion and over-prescription of opioids” as “the worst man-made epidemic in modern medical history”.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said the companies, which run prescription drug coverage for insurers, should be held accountable “for their roles in a crisis that has ravaged our state.”

“The (companies) benefited financially from the opioid crisis in Arkansas by negotiating favorable deals with opioid manufacturers,” Griffin said in a news release.

Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, denies the claims.

“Optum did not cause the opioid crisis or make it worse, and we will defend ourselves in this litigation,” the company said in a statement. “Optum takes the opioid epidemic seriously and has taken a comprehensive approach to fight this issue, including the Opioid Risk Management Program available to all Optum Rx clients, to address opioid abuse and promote patient health.”

Arkansas had the second-highest opioid prescription rate in the nation for many years, according to the suit, and remained the most commonly prescribed controlled substance as recently as 2022.

Pharmacy benefit managers “sit at the center of prescription-drug dispensing” and intentionally caused an oversupply of opioids in the state, the suit says.

The lawsuit accuses Optum and Cigna-owned Express Scripts of “colluding with Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers to increase opioid sales through favorable placement on national formularies in exchange for rebates and fees.”

Formularies are lists of drugs covered by insurance plans.

The state is seeking unspecified damages and restitution for claims of creating a public nuisance, negligence and unjust enrichment.

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Arkansas

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

Published

56 minutes ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has joined a new national artificial intelligence initiative that launched Thursday, June 25.

RAISE US, started by former Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Gina Raimondo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce is a nonpartisan national organization that will partner with governors, employers, workers and training organizations to help the workforce transition to an AI economy.

“As artificial intelligence transforms America’s economy, we have one clear message: technology should empower people, not replace them. By leveraging our Arkansas LAUNCH initiative, and with the resources and expertise provided by RAISE US, Arkansas will turn that mission into reality. We want the Natural State to be a leader on education, workforce training, and up-skilling, and this new partnership gives us the tools we need to build a model for the entire nation.”

The organization will design and pilot incentives to retrain workers, new approaches to support job transitions, and training models tied to employer demand.

RAISE US launches with more than two dozen American companies and philanthropies and initial state partnerships in Connecticut, Maryland and Utah.

“America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy — and we cannot lead without one,” Raimondo, who will serve as CEO of RAISE US, said.

“If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline. I believe AI will create new jobs and industries over time, but the transition could be disruptive, and it’s already underway. We shouldn’t fearmonger, but we can’t pretend our training and worker support systems are ready either. It’s time for innovative and practical solutions. This moment demands ambition, urgency, and creativity. We’ve assembled the country’s top companies, best economists, and bipartisan governors at a scale rarely seen — all to advance new ideas and incentives, pilot them with governors and business, and scale what works.”

Governor Sanders is partnering with RAISE US to support Arkansas LAUNCH, an AI-powered career navigation platform that connects students and jobseekers to personalized learning and employer-linked career pathways.

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