CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) – Is he blowing the whistle or passing the buck? A badge-flashing, gun-toting bulldog, or an ineffective bureaucrat? Is he defined by an appearance on "60 Minutes," or the fact that trial lawyers pay him $500 for 60 minutes of his time?
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Opioid manufacturers and distributors attacked the fundamental allegations in lawsuits by two Ohio counties that are scheduled to begin trial next month, saying they didn’t contribute to the “public nuisance” of opioid abuse and violated no laws by selling their products in Ohio.
Defendants have asked the federal judge overseeing nearly 2,000 opioid lawsuits by cities and counties to recuse himself, saying he has demonstrated clear bias toward the plaintiffs and toward obtaining a multibillion-dollar settlement instead of holding trials to determine the merits of their claims.
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - A proposed opioid “negotiation class” that would include more than 24,000 U.S. cities and counties is a waste of judicial resources unlikely to achieve its stated goal of hammering out a global settlement, say critics, including a former Connecticut official who was directly involved in negotiations with the opioid industry.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Legal Newsline) - A week after Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter announced a $270 million settlement with Purdue Pharma, lawmakers are questioning why they weren’t consulted on the deal or how to distribute the money.
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) – Large pharmacy chains are asking why they are being sued by hundreds of cities and counties over the opioid crisis instead of the criminals who pushed drugs to addicts.
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The U.S. government wants a seat at the table as lawyers for hundreds of municipalities and other plaintiffs negotiate a potentially multibillion-dollar settlement of lawsuits over the opioid addiction crisis, citing its “substantial financial stake” in the matter and need to recover its own costs.
