The Washington Post (10/3, Kornfield) reports two counties in Ohio “are set to face off against four of the nation’s largest chain pharmacies in a federal” opioid litigation trial. The trial, scheduled to start today, “could serve as a litmus test for thousands of cities and counties looking to hold” drug companies accountable for allegedly fueling the U.S. opioid crisis.
The AP (10/2, Gillispie) reported that for the first time, pharmacy companies – in this case CVS, Walgreens, Giant Eagle, and Walmart – will go “to trial to defend themselves in the nation’s ongoing legal reckoning over the opioid crisis.” During the “bellwether federal trial,” attorneys for Ohio’s Lake and Trumbull counties “will try to convince a jury that the retail pharmacy companies played an outsized role in creating a public nuisance in the way they dispensed pain medication into their communities.” The AP explained that pharmacies operating in the counties allegedly dispensed so “many prescription [pain medications]…between 2012 and 2016 that the amount equaled 265 pills for every resident.” The trial “is expected to last around six weeks” and “could set the tone for similar lawsuits against retail pharmacy chains by government entities across the U.S.”
Related Links:
— “Pharmacies face 1st trial over role in opioid crisis “Mark Gillispie, AP, October 2, 2021