CHARLESTON -- While opioid distributors have argued there is no proof of connection between prescription painkiller use and illicit drug use, an expert in the neurobiology of addiction said, during the second day of a landmark federal trial against those distributors, that people who take prescription painkillers and illicit opioids see the same changes in their brain chemistry.
HUNTINGTON — A federal judge has denied a motion for summary judgement by three large drug distributors, meaning the opioid cases filed by Cabell County and Huntington likely will begin next month.
CHARLESTON – A federal judge has set an Aug. 31 start date for the trial filed by Cabell County and the City of Huntington against the three major opioid distribution companies.At the end of a March 5 status hearing, U.S.
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Drug companies, state attorneys general and some local government entities are vigorously opposing an attempt by certain lawyers to secure a significant percentage of a probable multibillion-dollar global settlement stemming from nationwide opioid litigation.
LANSING, Mich. (Legal Newsline) - Michigan upped the ante in the litigation war against the opioid industry, suing the nation’s largest pharmaceutical distributors under a law written to strip assets from criminal drug dealers.
A proposed “negotiation class” to settle all opioid litigation by U.S. cities and counties could be in deep trouble, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit considers an appeal of the order creating the controversial class and lawyers in two states with big claims urge their clients to opt out before a Nov. 22 deadline.
A New York judge has scheduled a Jan. 20 trial for opioid lawsuits by New York State and two counties, setting a short timeline for the companies to settle or face potentially crippling liability.
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - It was a stroke of good luck for Cuyahoga and Summit counties in Ohio that U.S. District Judge Dan Polster selected them for the first bellwether trial out of thousands of other cities and counties that are blaming the opioid industry for the nation's addiction crisis.
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?
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) - The federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against opioid manufacturers and distributors left little doubt he supports a plan developed by private lawyers to assemble an unprecedented “negotiating class” consisting of every city and county in the U.S.
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) - The state of Ohio is sitting on a database that could prove the Rosetta Stone for opioid plaintiffs and defendants alike, but so far only the defendants are demanding access to it.
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Forced to identify opioid prescriptions they say were “suspicious” and never should have been shipped, Ohio cities and counties came up with a rough estimate. Very rough.
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Plaintiffs in bellwether trials blaming the opioid industry for the nation's addiction crisis have allowed a Monday deadline to pass, apparently without turning over any proof of specific prescriptions that were made in error.