HELENA — Sen. Mike Yakawich, R-Billings, compares the state’s purchase of overdose reversal drugs like Narcan from companies that have contributed to the opioid crisis to “paying the arsonist to put out his own fire.”
Yakawich is carrying Senate Bill 112, which would ban government purchase of opioid overdose reversal drugs from companies like Purdue Pharma and Hikma Pharmaceuticals. The bill passed the Senate Tuesday on a 49-1 vote.
Attorneys General across the countryhave accused Hikma of failing to monitor and report suspicious opioid orders from potentially illegal distributors for more than 15 years. Purdue has sold a Narcan alternative since 2022 and Hikma has developed an opioid antagonist twice the dose of Narcan.
Yakawich received a letter from former Montana Attorney General Tom Miller and Attorney Generals of Iowa and Oklahoma urging legislators to “assure that states only purchase life-saving opioid overdose medications from entities that were not involved in causing or fueling the opioid epidemic.”
Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, raised concerns during a debate Monday that the bill could squeeze supply across the state.
“If we're saying ‘federal funds,’ well, if these other non-profits out there are utilizing federal funds, then how would they be able to purchase these things?” Ellsworth said.
But Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, said the change would not affect the supply of these drugs.
“ We're just going to buy it from somebody that didn't make a whole bunch of money getting people addicted and causing this horrible problem,” Glimm said.
The bill now moves to the House for debate.
Clayton Murphy is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association, the Montana Newspaper Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. Murphy can be reached at clayton.murphy@umconnect.umt.edu.
