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Opioids
Family of opioid overdose victim can't sue as victims of a crime
ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) - The relatives of a woman who died of an opioid overdose can’t take advantage of a Georgia law that extends the statute of limitations for torts in connection with a crime, an appeals court ruled, dismissing a lawsuit against a doctor who was later convicted of illegal prescribing.
Opioids
Walmart seeks end to 'smorgasbord' securities suit over opioid disclosures
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - Walmart has again asked a federal judge in Delaware to dismiss a securities class action claiming it misled investors about opioid litigation, saying an amended complaint is even worse than the original.
Opioids
Cities, counties swim against tide pulling them toward state opioid settlements
A handful of municipalities are fighting efforts to force them to sign on to opioid settlements negotiated by state attorneys general and private lawyers, as the nation's largest pharmacy chains have offered $13.8 billion to resolve litigation.
Opioids
Lead lawyers in opioid MDL make case for millions in fees from colleagues in state court
CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) - Plaintiff lawyers leading federal opioid litigation dismissed as premature a challenge by their rivals in state court to a judge’s order that could steer hundreds of millions, or even billions of dollars in fees their way.
Opioids
Opioid lawyers seek $174 million bond as pharmacies appeal Polster's verdict
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Lawyers representing two Ohio counties that won $651 million in damages from pharmacies they accused of causing the opioid epidemic have asked the judge who handed down that verdict to order them to post a $174 million bond while they pursue their appeals.
Opioids
Judge orders pharmacy chains to pay $651 million for opioid `abatement’
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The judge overseeing federal multidistrict litigation against the opioid industry ordered Walgreens, Walmart and CVS to pay $651 million to fund what he called an “abatement” plan to reduce the level of opioid addiction and overdose deaths in two Ohio counties.
Opioids
'Worst-case scenario': Group trusted to handle public opioid money rejects transparency requests
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - An Ohio nonprofit has sued for access to the meetings and records of OneOhio Recovery Foundation, saying the state-established organization is attempting to distribute more than $400 million in opioid settlement money without legally required public oversight.
Opioids
COVID causes mistrial in Georgia opioid lawsuit against distributors
Just three days after it started, a trial in Georgia accusing three distributors of oversupplying prescription opioid pills and recklessly causing public harm was shut down because of an outbreak of the COVID virus in the courtroom.
Opioids
Former DEA investigator calls opioid distributor anti-diversion programs 'fatally flawed' in Georgia trial
BRUNSWICK, GA (Legal Newsline) - Former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigator James Rafalski told a courtroom in Georgia that the in-house anti-drug diversion programs of opioid distributors were “fatally flawed” in that they failed to report suspicious orders.
Opioids
Trial opens in Georgia with private citizens taking aim at opioid distributors; McKesson says it complied with law
BRUNSWICK, GA (Legal Newsline) - Trial began Tuesday in a case accusing opioid drug distributors McKesson and Cardinal Health of recklessly flooding the state with pills, and for the first time, private citizens are the plaintiffs instead of a state or local government.
Opioids
Walmart: SCOTUS decision destroys DOJ's opioid lawsuit
Walmart and the Justice Department disagreed on the impact of a U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring prosecutors to prove doctors “knowingly” wrote invalid opioid prescriptions, with Walmart arguing the ruling obliterated the government’s civil lawsuit accusing it of failing to block millions of illegal opioid prescriptions, while Justice saying the decision bolstered its case.
Opioids
Latest opioid ruling puts MDL judge further out of step on public nuisance
A federal judge soundly rejected the “public nuisance” theory behind most opioid litigation, further isolating the judge in charge of thousands of similar lawsuits who has consistently ruled in favor of plaintiffs on this very question.
Opioids
After plaintiff lawyers rebel, opioid judge backpedals on fees
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The federal judge in charge of multidistrict opioid litigation walked back an order that set off a rebellion among plaintiff lawyers who complained it would interfere with their cases in state court and steer billions of dollars in fees to a small group of attorneys who dominate the federal litigation.
Opioids
Fee Fight: Opioid lawyers challenge order directing money to colleagues
CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) - Private lawyers representing hundreds of cities and counties including Harris County, Texas, home to Houston, have asked a federal appeals court to block a judge’s order steering potentially billions of dollars in fees from opioid settlements to a small group of lawyers in charge of federal multidistrict litigation.
Opioids
Judge who wanted to 'do something' about opioid crisis now deciding who pays
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - A two-week bench trial to determine how much three national pharmacy chains must pay to solve a “public nuisance” of opioid abuse in two Ohio counties began with a fundamental dispute over what that nuisance is.
Opioids
Judge's Facebook comments force him off opioid case
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Legal Newsline) - A Tennessee judge who ordered harsh sanctions against an opioid manufacturer and later boasted about it on Facebook should have recused himself for the appearance of bias, an appeals court ruled, reversing the sanctions and ordering the judge off the case.
Opioids
Washington State to receive a half-billion from opioid drug producers in trial settlement
SEATTLE (Legal Newsline) - Three weeks after closing arguments were postponed until July at the request of lawyers for defendants, three opioid drug producing companies accused of causing an epidemic agreed on May 3 to settle with Washington State for $518 million.
Opioids
$50 million cap stares at AG Moody's hired guns as private lawyers reap opioid windfall
Florida began the trial in its opioid lawsuit against the Walgreens pharmacy chain yesterday, with outside attorneys representing the state in what could be an expensive, weeks-long courtroom ordeal.
Opioids
Florida jury can place blame on State, not Walgreens, for opioid crisis
DADE CITY, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A Florida jury will hear evidence that the state’s attorney general once blamed weak regulatory oversight and the lack of a centralized prescription database for the opioid crisis, which it now blames on the Walgreens pharmacy chain.
Opioids
Private lawyers take $84 million from Florida opioid settlements; Some are campaign contributors to AG Moody
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced $860 million in opioid settlements with CVS and three other companies, leaving only Walgreens as a defendant in a trial scheduled to begin in state court April 4.