Mike Moore, a pioneer of cigarette litigation, is encouraging states to sue drug companies over the painkiller epidemic.

The legal front widening against makers of opioid painkillers has something in common with landmark tobacco litigation of the 1990s: attorney Mike Moore.

As Mississippi’s attorney general in 1994, Mr. Moore filed the first state lawsuit against tobacco companies, saying they harmed public-health systems by misrepresenting smoking’s dangers. He helped marshal the subsequent spate of State litigation and then the talks that led to a $246 billion settlement.

*Davidson Bowie, PLLC represents the State of Mississippi in the ongoing opioid litigation.*