RICHMOND, Va. — Federal prosecutors say the company that makes a drug meant to curb opioid addiction has been lying for years about the relative safety of its product.

Prosecutors in Virginia filed fraud charges Tuesday against British-based Indivior, which makes Suboxone film strips that dissolve under the tongue and are used to ease withdrawal in opioid addicts.
Prosecutors said the company boosted its profits by intentionally lying to doctors and others by describing the strips as safer than taking the drugs as a tablet.
The company also steered opioid-addicted patients who sought medical assistance to doctors who Indivior executives knew were prescribing Suboxone strips in a “careless and clinically unwarranted manner,” prosecutors said.
Indivior said the charges are unfounded and that prosecutors are searching for “self-serving headlines.”