November 13, 2020
Two local West Virginia governments are fighting to keep in play an expert's testimony about the magnitude of opioid use and overdose deaths in an upcoming bellwether trial over the nationwide epidemic, saying protests from drug distributors rely on their lawyers' "inaccurate" reading of textbook epidemiology.
November 09, 2020
McKesson Corp., one of the companies at the center of national litigation over the opioid crisis, is looking to block the details of its former director of regulatory affairs' guilty plea from its upcoming trial against two West Virginia local governments, telling a West Virginia federal court that the information is hearsay and doesn't qualify for an exception under federal regulations.
November 02, 2020
Two West Virginia governments set to bring one of the first trials in nationwide opioid-crisis litigation are criticizing opioid distributors' bid to exclude testimony by people who have suffered from the crisis.
October 09, 2020
Amid coronavirus concerns, a West Virginia federal judge on Friday postponed an eagerly awaited bellwether trial in multidistrict opioid litigation shortly before its scheduled start, adding to a series of recent setbacks for local governments that blame drug companies for rampant addiction.
October 08, 2020
The first bellwether trial in multidistrict opioid litigation must start this month because an epidemic of painkiller addiction is just as deadly as the coronavirus pandemic, and drug companies are exaggerating the virus threat, local governments told a West Virginia judge late Thursday.
October 05, 2020
Major drug distributors on Monday asked a West Virginia federal judge to delay an imminent bellwether trial in multidistrict opioid litigation by warning of a coronavirus "super-spreader" outbreak, while in Ohio a federal judge postponed another bellwether trial in the MDL because of COVID-19 concerns.
September 23, 2020
Drug distributors McKesson, Cardinal and AmerisourceBergen told a West Virginia federal judge they should be axed from a county's bellwether trial over the opioid epidemic, saying the state has never recognized a public nuisance claim based on a product's alleged harm.
September 09, 2020
Drug distributors McKesson, Cardinal and AmerisourceBergen have told a West Virginia federal court that, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, there's still a heap of trial prep left before next month's planned bellwether trial over claims the companies helped fuel the opioid crisis.
August 13, 2020
A West Virginia federal judge will allow a bench rather than jury bellwether trial in the city of Huntington and Cabell County's joined lawsuit against three drug distributors over their alleged roles in fueling the nation's opioid crisis.
August 06, 2020
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration doesn't have to respond to subpoenas by cities and drug distributors in West Virginia's opioid multidistrict litigation bellwether that sought more information about the agency's knowledge of prescription drug trafficking, a federal judge has ruled.