(Danville, Va.) – The city of Danville is the latest municipality in Virginia to join a lawsuit against the makers and distributors of opioids.

The action came at Tuesday night’s Danville City Council meeting. Members heard from first responders who reported a sharp rise in the number of opioid overdoses over the past three years.

Council then voted unanimously to hire counsel to file suit against the manufacturers and distributors of the prescription drugs that have been linked to hundreds of overdoses and deaths in Southside Virginia.

Martinsville has one of the highest death rates from opioids in the nation and was among the first of a dozen Virginia localities to sue for compensation. The suit alleges the drug makers promoted the drugs to doctors without regard to their addictive properties.