Sari Horwitz

In a Denver suburb on the Sunday of Presidents’ Day weekend, five people died simultaneously in what was then the nation’s largest known mass fentanyl poisoning.

An adaptation from Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz’s book, “American Cartel,” reveals how lobbyists, lawmakers and K Street attorneys thwarted efforts to stop the deadly flow of pain pills.

In states like Oklahoma, with 38 Native American tribes, the deluge of pain pills rivaled hard-hit Appalachia.

Congress and others want the supply restricted to curb abuse, but former DEA officials say it cannot be done without hurting legitimate pain patients.

Unsealed court documents reveal how drug manufacturers paid doctors and movie stars to promote aggressive pain treatments and motivated their sales teams with contests and bonuses as the opioid epidemic heightened.

The health-care giant would pay two Ohio counties $10 million, reimburse $5 million in legal fees and direct $5.4 million to nonprofits for opioid-related programs in those communities.

The large generic drugmaker would give Ohio’s Cuyahoga and Summit counties $30 million worth of cash and drugs and be dropped from the first phase of the landmark trial.

Opioid death rates soared in communities where pain pills flowed

Six companies distributed and three companies manufactured the bulk of the pills that saturated the nation with opioids from 2006 to 2012.

Justice Department alleges that health professionals, mostly in Appalachia, illegally dispensed 32 million pills.