Publication Archive: Opioids Litigation

As part of an upcoming nationwide settlement, the nation’s three largest drug distributors on Tuesday struck a $1.1 billion opioid deal with New York’s attorney general and exited a closely watched jury trial. “Unlike the national deal, it is not contingent on the rest of the country or other states joining,” Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli…Read the article

On Long Island, the settlement with McKesson, Amerisource Bergen and CardinalHealth means Nassau County will receive nearly $87 million; Suffolk County between $87 million and $106 million. The agreement will remove the companies from an ongoing opioid trial underway in a state court in Suffolk County. DownloadRead the article

The three largest U.S. drug distributors agreed mid-trial to pay up to $1.18 billion to settle claims by New York state and two of its biggest counties over their role in the nationwide opioid epidemic. Hunter Shkolnik, a lawyer for Nassau County at the law firm Napoli Shkolnik, said in a statement that unlike the…Read the article

Witness Dr. Anna Lembke: Medical community accepted opioid makers’ ‘misleading’ campaign. Under redirect examination from Hunter Shkolnik, counsel for Nassau County, Dr. Lembke testified how opioid makers funded flawed, inhouse studies to “infiltrate” medical education. DownloadRead the article

Opening statements began Tuesday in a landmark opioid trial against pharmaceutical companies who are being sued in Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as the state of New York, to hold the drugmakers responsible for the ongoing opioid epidemic. On Long Island, the trial is the first of its kind to be heard by a…Read the article

“Everyone in our county has been affected by the corporate greed you are going to see in this trial,” Hunter Shkolnik, Nassau County’s lawyer, said during opening statements on Tuesday. The companies “turned a blind eye” to the suffering they caused, he said. Drug makers and distributors are accused of misleading doctors and consumers about the…Read the article

Hunter Shkolnik, represents Nassau County used his opening statement to give the jury a preview of his case, expected to include expert witnesses and internal communications from the companies. New York and the counties claim that drug companies deceptively promoted opioids as safe, and that distributors ignored red flags that massive amounts of the painkillers…Read the article

And so Tuesday’s opening statements served up easily digestible charts, graphics and pictures seasoned very lightly with the underlying legal issues, such as drug company obligations under the Controlled Substances Act to watch for suspicious opioid orders. Hunter Shkolnik, for example, presented the jurors with an AmerisourceBergen Corp. investigator’s email that had the subject line…Read the article

“First and foremost, this is an opioid epidemic. Don’t let anyone try to convince you otherwise. There is a clear opioid epidemic in our community in Nassau, Suffolk Counties, the state of New York and the rest of the United States,” Shkolnik said. “The opioid epidemic didn’t happen by accident.” “When each of these defendants…Read the article

During opening statements Tuesday in the state of New York’s multidefendant opioid lawsuit, attorneys for the plaintiffs emphasized the role opioid manufacturers and distributors played in creating a public nuisance for the people of Long Island and New York as a whole. “The opioid epidemic didn’t happen by accident,” Shkolnik said. “It happened because of…Read the article