Publication Archive: Opioid Epidemic

Pharmacies launched another attack on the judge overseeing opioid multidistrict litigation, telling the Sixth Circuit on Friday that he has “repeatedly disregarded” federal court rules and should be ordered to follow them. “The chain pharmacies are copying the distributors’ and manufacturers’ plan to delay, delay, delay. That failed for them,” Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli Shkolnik…Read the article

A group of pharmacies led by CVSPharmacy Inc, Walgreen Co. and Walmart Inc. are taking aim at droves of unnamed doctors, saying the Ohio counties suing as part of the sprawling opioid multidistrict litigation are unfairly blaming pharmacies instead of going after physicians for overprescribing the drugs. The pharmacists are bound by law to accept…Read the article

Legal guardians of babies born to mothers who took opioids during pregnancy asked the Ohio federal judge overseeing the opioid multidistrict litigation to certify a class for the purpose of medical monitoring, saying Tuesday that the babies are the most vulnerable victims of the opioid crisis. Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli Shkolnik, a top plaintiffs attorney…Read the article

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s proposed $23 billion drug giveaway to settle thousands of U.S. opioid lawsuits will likely cost the company a fraction of that figure due to how it has valued those medicines, according to a Reuters review of pricing data and industry analysts. The deal is “overvalued to make the settlement look better,”…Read the article

In 2017 Ohio was ranked second in the nation for overdose deaths involving opioids. More than 4,000 people died that year from overdoses. It’s why hundreds of Ohio cities and counties are now part of lawsuits against the largest drug manufacturers and pharmacies. Pharmacy chains will likely face an October 2020 trial for their alleged…Read the article

In U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, the National Prescription Opiate Litigation is a collection of more than 2,500 lawsuits against manufacturers and others in the drug industry for their alleged roles in the opioid crisis. The judge set a November 22 deadline for jurisdictions to opt out of a Negotiating Class.…Read the article

The New York attorney general and two Long Island counties will take their suit over the deadly opioid crisis before a jury in January in what could be the second state trial over the epidemic. “Nassau County is excited for their day in court and they look forward to having these defendants in court starting…Read the article

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s proposed $23 billion drug giveaway over it’s suggesting to settle the opioid lawsuits against it will likely cost the company a fraction of that figure, according to industry experts. When Teva announced the value of the donated medicine – a generic version of opioid addiction treatment Suboxone – it based the…Read the article

Members of the Sackler family, owners of Oxycontin-maker Purdue Pharma, are buying a sprawling home in Palm Beach County for $7.4million – months before the family business files for bankruptcy. The purchase took place shortly before Purdue Pharma filed for Chapter 11 protection in a bid to resolve 2,600 opioid lawsuits pending against the company.…Read the article

As opening statements were about to be made Monday morning in the first Cleveland Federal Court trial in the Nationwide Opioid litigation brought on behalf of more than 2000 cities in counties against drug manufacturers, distributors, and retail pharmacy chains, the bellwether plaintiffs (Cuyahoga and Summit County, Ohio) announced a settlement with McKesson, Amerisource Bergan,…Read the article