Breaking Legal News & Current Law Headlines | Daily Legal Briefing
  • Home
  • Hot Topics
  • Breaking
  • Business
  • Big Law
  • Small Law
  • Law School
  • Legal Tech
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Breaking Legal News & Current Law Headlines | Daily Legal Briefing
No Result
View All Result
Home Hot Topics

3 pharmacy chains found liable in opioid epidemic in Ohio case

Daily Legal Briefing by Daily Legal Briefing
November 26, 2021
in Hot Topics
0
3 pharmacy chains found liable in opioid epidemic in Ohio case
4
SHARES
33
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


  1. Home
  2. Daily News
  3. 3 pharmacy chains found liable in opioid…

Tort Law

3 pharmacy chains found liable in opioid epidemic in Ohio case

By Debra Cassens Weiss

November 24, 2021, 10:23 am CST

opioids and gavel

Image from Shutterstock.

Federal jurors in Cleveland on Tuesday found that CVS, Walgreens and Walmart are liable for contributing to the opioid epidemic in two Ohio counties.

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster of the Northern District of Ohio will determine damages to be paid to Lake and Trumbull counties in northeastern Ohio after hearings in the spring, report the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, Law.com and Reuters.

The verdict is the first against big retail pharmacies in the opioid crisis, according to the New York Times.

Rite Aid and Giant Eagle settled with the Ohio counties before the trial.

In his closing argument for the plaintiffs, lawyer Mark Lanier countered a defense argument that the plaintiffs had not built a bridge connecting all the required elements to prove a public nuisance, according to the New York Times.

Lanier showed jurors a model bridge made of hundreds of Legos. Many things contributed to the opioid crisis, he said. But if you knock out a few of the pieces, everything can fall, he said as he showed the model as it shattered.

The Ohio case is among about 3,000 opioid lawsuits consolidated before Polster alleging that defendants created a public nuisance in the sale and marketing of opioids.

Meanwhile, three drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson have proposed paying $26 billion to settle lawsuits against them, according to Reuters. And a bankruptcy judge has approved a $10 billion settlement involving Purdue Pharma, a maker of OxyContin.

Public nuisance claims have failed in two state lawsuits.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned a $465 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson earlier this month, holding that the company’s opioid marketing did not create a public nuisance because it concerned the sale of a lawful product.

Also in November, a California judge said in a tentative ruling a suit by opioid plaintiffs failed because there was no proof showing how many opioid prescriptions were inappropriate and how the volume contributed to a public nuisance.

In a Zoom press conference after the Ohio verdict, plaintiffs lawyer Joe Rice of Motley Rice explained why his clients pursued a public nuisance theory, according to Law.com.

“You gotta start somewhere,” Rice said.

“We can always go back and try a straight negligence or careless standard,” he added. “There’s different ways to proceed with these cases. The public nuisance was the one we chose to proceed with because the court controls the remedy, and there was no risk that any economic recovery would be used for anything other than to abate the opioid epidemic. And that’s what the clients wanted to have happen.”

The public nuisance doctrine will be one issue in an appeal of the Ohio verdict, according to a statement by a Walgreens spokesperson cited by publications covering the verdict.

“The plaintiffs’ attempt to resolve the opioid crisis with an unprecedented expansion of public nuisance law is misguided and unsustainable,” the spokesperson said.

CVS and Walmart also indicated that they would appeal.

Adam Zimmerman, who teaches mass litigation at Loyola Marymount University’s Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, told the New York Times that the opioid litigation has a long road ahead. Each state has its own public nuisance law, which could lead to different outcomes, he said.

“It’s more like there are many different ballgames going on at once, each with slightly different rules, and we’re in the early innings of almost all of them,” he told the New York Times.

See also:

ABA Journal: “Opioids, justice & mercy: Courts are on the front lines of a lethal crisis”





Click to Read Original Article

Previous Post

Philadelphia can’t enforce flavored tobacco sales ban, federal court rules

Next Post

Am Law 100 Firm Matches $115K Bonus Scale, Offers Even More Cash For High Billers

Daily Legal Briefing

Daily Legal Briefing

Related Posts

Judge imposes default judgment against former Littler Mendelson client for ‘subversive approach to discovery’
Hot Topics

5th Circuit tells lawyer it is ‘often advisable to read the court’s orders,’ upholds $1,250 sanction

by Daily Legal Briefing
April 12, 2022
Law firm’s managing partner had a ‘fixation’ with employee surveillance, wiretap suit says
Hot Topics

Law firm’s managing partner had a ‘fixation’ with employee surveillance, wiretap suit says

by Daily Legal Briefing
April 12, 2022
Law school applicants are down, for now, for the first time since 2018
Hot Topics

Following a boost in 2021, national average score for February 2022 MBE drops

by Daily Legal Briefing
April 12, 2022
Google violated its ‘don’t be evil’ code when it fired 3 outspoken employees abiding by mandate, suit says
Hot Topics

Google’s ‘privileged’ email labeling, said to prevent lawsuit disclosure, was ‘eyebrow raising,’ judge says

by Daily Legal Briefing
April 11, 2022
New law allows this state’s judges to personally solicit campaign donations; ethics opinion adds wrinkle
Hot Topics

New law allows this state’s judges to personally solicit campaign donations; ethics opinion adds wrinkle

by Daily Legal Briefing
April 11, 2022
Next Post
Am Law 100 Firm Matches $115K Bonus Scale, Offers Even More Cash For High Billers

Am Law 100 Firm Matches $115K Bonus Scale, Offers Even More Cash For High Billers

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Premium Content

The Bar Exam Is A Barrier To Access For Legal Services And Access To Justice For Many

New Bar Exam Will Test Future Law Grads On Skills Actually Related To Being A Lawyer

January 11, 2022
5 Reasons Entrepreneurs Need to Embrace Business Travel More

5 Reasons Entrepreneurs Need to Embrace Business Travel More

March 5, 2022
The Reason Why Biglaw Performance Reviews Are Stressing Associates Out So Much

Bumps Or No Bumps, A Free Ride At Law School Is A Free Ride

July 28, 2023

Browse by Category

  • Big Law
  • Breaking
  • Business
  • Hot Topics
  • Law School
  • Legal Tech
  • Small Law

About US

Breaking Legal News & Current Law Headlines | Daily Legal Briefing.
Online coverage of breaking legal news and current law headlines from around the US. Top stories, videos, insight, and in-depth analysis.

Categories

  • Big Law
  • Breaking
  • Business
  • Hot Topics
  • Law School
  • Legal Tech
  • Small Law

Recent Updates

  • Say Hello To The Nation’s First ABA-Approved Fully Online J.D. Program
  • Looking At Supply And Demand To Pinpoint Why Outside Counsel Rates Continue To Rise
  • Legal Career Growth: Why Continuous Engagement With Legal Recruiters Is Key

© 2021 Daily Legal Briefing | Breaking Legal News & Current Law Headlines

No Result
View All Result
  • Contact Us
  • Home

© 2021 Daily Legal Briefing | Breaking Legal News & Current Law Headlines

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?