Before U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced last week that the federal government might bring legal actions against opioid companies, Department of Justice lawyers were in court fighting over a drug distribution database that could aid ongoing settlement talks.

On Feb. 27, Sessions announced a task force that would consider “all available criminal and civil law enforcement tools” to combat the opioid crisis and assist local and state governments in their suits against distributors and manufacturers. He later directed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to re-evaluate its regulations concerning the prescription painkillers.