Publication Archive: Opioid Epidemic

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

Amsterdam Common Council members unanimously voted Tuesday to authorize the mayor to enter into an agreement with Napoli Shkolnik, PLLC, for the prosecution of any legal claim against opioid manufacturers and distributors for fraudulent marketing and distribution of the drugs. The city will not pay Napoli Shkolnik any upfront expenses, but the law firm would…Read the article

Joining dozens of other municipalities, Rochester is going up against opioid manufacturers and distributors in the courtroom. Rochester City Council voted Tuesday to allow the city’s corporation counsel to join the lawsuit, which is being handled by New York City law firm Napoli Shkolnik.Read the article

Dozens of municipalities across the country have taken similar legal action. In New York, Napoli Shkolnik is representing dozens of cities and counties in an effort to combat the “emotional and financial strain” opioids have cost communities, a statement on its website reads. The city attorney would like to retain the New York City law…Read the article

Napoli Shkolnik currently represents Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Nassau, Niagara, Rensselaer and Schuyler counties in New York, along with a host of other municipalities in West Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey and elsewhere. In material provided to City Council, the firm states that an individual suit would allow the city makes its own decision on any settlement and distribution of…Read the article

Knox County has joined a lawsuit alleging that opioid manufacturers helped create the drug epidemic by pushing doctors to prescribe their painkillers to increase profits even though patients were becoming addicted. Knox has become the 12th county in Maine to join the lawsuits against 28 manufacturers of opioids. County Commissioners voted unanimously  to hire Napoli…Read the article

The Portland, Bangor and Lewiston lawsuits, along with many others, will now be influenced by three “bellwether cases” set to be tried in the Northern District of Ohio next year, said Paul Napoli, a New York-based lawyer for the Maine cities, as well as many others. Settlements in those cases, brought by the city of…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

The County Commission unanimously approved a resolution that ends multiple lawsuits involving the pending opioid litigation, an issue that divided the legislative and executive branches of government for much of the past year. Shelby County government will now move forward with one joint opioid lawsuit, supported by the administration and County Commission, in state court.…Read the article

In a motion to dismiss, drugmakers accused Ohio cities and counties of disregarding an April case management order requiring the disclosure of prescriptions that the governments believe were medically unnecessary or medically inappropriate. Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, a top attorney for the local governments, fired back on Friday, calling the motion “a ridiculous…Read the article