July 21, 2022
In post-trial filings Wednesday, San Francisco argued Walgreens' failure to prevent the diversion of "dangerous and highly addictive" opioids it distributed and dispensed "substantially contributed" to the city's opioid crisis, while the pharmacy giant held firm that the case lacked evidence of any harm by an opioid it sold.
July 13, 2022
Left as the lone defendant in a bellwether bench trial brought by San Francisco over the city's opioid crisis, Walgreens argued during its closing arguments Wednesday that the city didn't show any evidence its pharmacists dispensed medically inappropriate drugs — a "fatal flaw" in the case against it.
July 12, 2022
Walgreens didn't maintain effective controls to prevent prescription opioids from being diverted to individuals for illicit uses, lawyers for San Francisco told a federal judge Tuesday during closing trial arguments that followed an announcement that defendants Allergan and Teva struck settlements worth nearly $58 million to exit the litigation.
July 12, 2022
San Francisco struck settlements worth almost $58 million with Allergan and Teva Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday in the sole ongoing trial over the pharmaceutical industry's role in a nationwide crisis of opioid abuse, leaving Walgreens as the last company in the closely watched showdown.
July 08, 2022
A resounding victory by drug distributors in a bench trial over West Virginia's catastrophic opioid crisis underscores a growing gulf between judges and juries in broader opioid litigation, with judges increasingly rejecting a crucial legal theory while juries embrace it.
June 30, 2022
A lawyer for San Francisco has told a California federal judge overseeing a bellwether bench trial in multidistrict opioid litigation that Anda, Allergan, Teva and Walgreens promoted and distributed the powerful painkillers in ways that created a public nuisance that endangered the health and safety of the city's residents.
June 27, 2022
A San Francisco federal judge who put strict time limits on a bellwether bench trial in multidistrict opioid litigation noted Monday that both sides wrapped up their cases within their allotted 45 hours, prompting him to wonder to courtroom chuckles if he "was just too generous."
June 16, 2022
A Yale University law professor — the final live defense witness in a bellwether opioid bench trial in San Francisco — testified Thursday that Allergan entities were not responsible for the conduct of Alpharma, a company that had owned a branded opioid called Kadian that Allergan later acquired.
June 15, 2022
An economics expert for Allergan testified Wednesday in a bellwether opioid bench trial that the "extremely small" market share and promotion done for the company's two branded opioids could not have substantially contributed to San Francisco's opioid crisis.
June 14, 2022
The California federal judge overseeing a bellwether bench trial in multidistrict opioid litigation said Tuesday that after defendants Anda, Allergan, Teva and Walgreens rest their case, San Francisco can't delay its rebuttal, saying he was "not terribly sympathetic" to the city's witness scheduling problems.