CHARLESTON – After more than 11 months, a federal judge has ruled in favor of three drug distribution companies, saying their actions did not cause the opioid epidemic in Huntington and Cabell County.
CHARLESTON – The nation’s three largest drug distributors has filed a petition with the state Supreme Court questioning whether the state Mass Litigation Panel exceeded its authority by grouping more than 60 public nuisances opioid claims into one statewide complaint.
CHARLESTON – Testifying in the bellwether opioid trial, a expert witness on pharmaceutical-related abatement programs said he does not believe Cabell County has sufficient treatment programs to fight the opioid epidemic.
CHARLESTON – Testifying in the bellwether federal opioid trial, Huntington's former chief of police shared the pain he felt as watching his community be taken over by addiction.
CHARLESTON – At the federal trial against three major opioid distributors, a child welfare expert showed the impact of Opioid Use Disorder on children and the rising need – and lack – of proper resources.
CHARLESTON – Tension remained high in the courtroom of the landmark federal opioid trial as plaintiffs and defendants argued expert witness reports and testimonies.
CHARLESTON – As the landmark federal opioid trial entered its sixth week, tensions rose as defendants spent the day trying to discredit a report by a substance use disorder epidemiologist.
CHARLESTON – As the landmark federal opioid trial concluded its fifth week, an opioid abuse epidemiologist shared data connecting causation between prescription opioids and opioid use disorder.
CHARLESTON – An expert epidemiologist who analyzed Cabell County and West Virginia overdose data to show opioid trends in death rates soared from 2001 to 2017.
CHARLESTON – A key former Drug Enforcement Administration official spent the day on the witness stand giving testimony between objections, legal limitations and frustrations.
CHARLESTON – A key former Drug Enforcement Administration officials took the stand in the landmark federal opioid trial, opening his testimony by saying drug distribution centers were well-equipped to prevent diversion.
CHARLESTON – As the landmark federal opioid trial concluded its fourth week, attorneys for Cardinal Health probed an addiction science professor from Marshall University about recovery programs and estimated costs.
CHARLESTON – At the landmark federal opioid trial, Cabell County Sherriff Chuck Zerkle testified being directly involved in Huntington, once deemed “epicenter of the opioid crisis,” has evolved.
CHARLESTON – All three major drug distribution companies objected to Cabell County and Huntington attorneys bringing in an expert witness with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration background to examine opioid data.
CHARLESTON – Attorneys representing Cabell County and the City of Huntington probed a McKesson sales representative on warning customers of nearing threshold limits, pushing increases and pushing sales – including controlled substances.
CHARLESTON – As the landmark federal opioid trial entered its fourth week, plaintiffs jumped into McKesson Corporation’s threshold guidelines and due diligence process.
CHARLESTON – As the landmark opioid trial continues, lawyers brought in a former AmerisourceBergen’s sales executive to ask what he knew about more than 32 million prescription pain pills being shipped to Huntington and the rest of Cabell County over an eight-year span.
CHARLESTON – As the federal trial against three major opioid distributors continued, data showing pharmacies in Huntington and Cabell County were ordering well above the national average of controlled substances, some ordering more than five times the national average.
Meanwhile, the drug distributors -- McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health -- sought to put the focus on the role of prescribers, as well as health officials' decision not to go after distributors earlier.
