State health officials say there's been a jump in the number of heroin and opiod overdose deaths, over the past decade.
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says it's a "wake-up" call. His office has been involved, over the past year with a national investigation involving the majority of the nation's Attorneys General.
The probe is looking into the marketing of prescription pain killers.
"We're looking at possible deception, which would be violations of Iowa's Consumer Fraud Act, which would have enormous (legal) remedies," Miller said.
No lawsuits yet, but Miller says that's a possibility, along with other legal actions and/or fines.
The Iowa Department of Public health reports from 2005 to 2015, treatment and admissions have gone from 422 to 1,601 for opiods and deaths have gone from 26 to 46.
The University of Iowa’s Injury Prevention Research Center has issued a report finding prescription opioid use has reached “unprecedented” levels, and that “heroin use is a rapidly growing public health problem and is associated with non-medical use of prescription opioid pain relievers.”