On Monday, July 4, Federal Judge David A. Faber ruled that the nation’s top three painkiller distributors caused no public disturbance by shipping millions of drugs that created an opioid addiction crisis in West Virginia.
Companies AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson won a legal victory in the United States District Court in West Virginia after Faber ruled that they were responsible for the aftermath of an opioid flood.
The distributors denied any wrongdoing, saying the painkillers they shipped were prescribed by licensed doctors and refilled at the pharmacy.
They claimed they had no way of knowing that those prescriptions weren’t legitimate and that any of the drugs could have been funneled into the black market.
The arguments of the distributors ‘lawyers resonated with the judge, who ruled that the plaintiffs did not prove that the companies’ conduct was unreasonable, a key element in establishing a public nuisance case.
The federal judge found that the conduct of the companies could not be linked to the damage suffered by the communities.
Ultimately, it ruled that plaintiffs failed to design a detailed culling plan outlining how communities would spend the money they would receive if they prevailed at the trial as attorneys representing Cabell and Huntington counties requested 2, $ 6 billion to the three companies for drug epidemic recovery efforts.
Opioid crisis in West Virginia
Before the coronavirus pandemic began, the West Virginia trial was to be a benchmark test of a new legal strategy in the vast national litigation against companies, including drug companies and pharmacies.
Attorneys from Huntington and Cabell counties argued that the companies were shipping drugs without paying attention to red flags that the pills could be diverted to the black market, with costly consequences for communities ravaged by addiction and death.
The increase in pills destined for West Virginia was due in part, he said, to “bona fide dispensing” and the increase in product thresholds set by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Over an eight-year span ending in 2014, more than 81 million prescription hydrocodone and oxycodone pills were distributed in West Virginia County, enough for 94 pills per adult and child per year.
Main news source: The Washington Post.
