A New York state court judge has refused to dismiss lawsuits against several opioid manufacturers in some of the first substantive rulings to come out of the barrage of cases brought by governments over the prescription painkillers. In a pair of rulings on Monday, Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge Jerry Garguilo rejected motions to dismiss brought by Purdue Pharma, Endo Health Solutions, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Allergan, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Insys Therapeutics Inc. He allowed cases brought by New York counties to go forward alleging violations of New York’s consumer fraud and false advertising laws, as well as public nuisance, negligence, fraud and other claims. “This is foreshadowing of more to come, frankly, from the MDL,” said Paul Napoli, of counsel at New York’s Napoli Shkolnik and co-lead plaintiffs counsel in the New York cases. “There’s certainly overlap in theories and arguments at both levels. This is the first court to really address all the substantive arguments in light of all the avalanche of cases filed, and I think the judge had a well-thought-out decision covering multiple issues raised throughout not only New York but around the country.” Download