LANSING — A bombshell new report from Bridge Michigan has raised questions about Mike Rogers’ record as “one of Congress’ leading advocates for increased access to pain care,” “which are typically variations of opioids.”

Bridge Michigan found that Rogers “received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the same drug companies that now are paying billions of dollars in national opioid settlements for their roles in causing the epidemic.” 

The story notes that Rogers bragged about how “drug companies considered him ‘a champion’ of their industry.” Rogers launched a “decade of advocacy… to boost opioid prescriptions” that led to “the nation tumbl[ing] into a crushing epidemic it is still battling today.” 

Questions Mike Rogers must answer: 

• Did you refuse to identify big drug companies as responsible for the opioid crisis, including ones now paying Michigan millions of dollars in settlements for their role in the epidemic, because you received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from those same companies?

• How do you claim not to have known about your close ties to Big Pharma and the drug companies fueling the crisis when you were identified as one of the “principal beneficiaries of pharma’s largesse?”
• How do you deny that the lack of regulation by Congress is part of what fueled the opioid crisis when you were introducing bills to fuel the crisis pushed forward by groups bankrolled by Big Pharma?
   
• How do you deny any responsibility when experts say you directly “contributed to the crisis” and could have done more to temper the opioid epidemic?
• Do you regret your self-professed work as a “champion” for opioid manufacturers and distributors for drugs that have killed tens of thousands of Michiganders?