Publication Archive: Hunter Shkolnik

The state of Oklahoma plans to take Johnson & Johnson to court after a judge ruled the state can try a civil case that would order the company to pay more than $17.5 billion for their alleged role in the opioid crisis. At the end of May, Hunter Shkolnik, a partner at Napoli Shkolnik, told…Read the article

In March, Judge Polster ruled that BakerHoestetler couldn’t represent Endo in the bellwether cases brought by the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, finding that this nonpublic information “may go to the heart of plaintiffs’ damages claims” and if used “could materially prejudice Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.” “BakerHostetler and Ms. Rendon are unhappy that Judge…Read the article

Hunter Shkolnik, a partner at Napoli Shkolnik, is representing hundreds of counties in opioid cases, including one of the first to be tried as part of large multi-district litigation starting in October. He said: “The Insys verdict is a harbinger of very bad things to come for the manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy chains involved in…Read the article

Plaintiffs’ lawyer Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli Shkolnik, who represents bellwether plaintiff Cuyahoga County, told me the expert witness reports were supposed to remain confidential. “I really don’t see a rational, calculated benefit for defendants from disclosing those numbers,” he said. Shkolnik, who declined to confirm his experts’ damages estimates, said the defense goal appears to be to delay…Read the article

As the nation’s opioid crisis has devastated thousands of families, it also has taken a crippling financial toll on cities, small towns and counties around the country. That cost was acknowledged last week in a settlement between OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and the state of Oklahoma, a settlement that included $12.5 million for local governments.…Read the article

As the nation’s opioid crisis has devastated thousands of families, it also has taken a crippling financial toll on cities, small towns and counties around the country. Government officials around the country who have lawsuits pending against the opioid industry said the amount in the Oklahoma settlement was just a fraction of what they need.…Read the article

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster ruled Wednesday that former Cleveland U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon, now in private practice at Baker & Hostetler, may not represent the pharmaceutical company Endo in two cases in the multi-district litigation accusing opioids defendants of sparking the opioid crisis by misrepresenting the addictiveness of prescription painkillers. Cuyahoga County counsel Hunter…Read the article

Five county commissions, including Monongalia, Marion, Doddridge, Randolph and Upshur, are joining in on dozens of lawsuits filed against Purdue Pharma and many other pharmaceutical companies for the opioid crisis. The commissions claim the defendants put their desire for profits above the interests of the health and well-being of the counties’ residents. The counties are…Read the article

A California appeals court revived claims Tuesday that Merck & Co. and other diabetes drugmakers failed to warn about their drugs’ pancreatic cancer risks, finding a lower court erred in not considering scientific evidence the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hadn’t evaluated. “In light of the [Ninth] Circuit’s reversal of Judge Battaglia’s order, which the…Read the article