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 West Virginia attorney general on Tuesday asked the Ohio federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation over the opioid crisis to clarify under what conditions the state's medical professional liability law applies in suits brought by municipalities against health care providers.
June 13, 2022
With a high-stakes bench trial winding down over San Francisco's claims that Teva, Allergan, Anda and Walgreens illegally fueled the city's opioid epidemic, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer judge indicated Monday he'd like to schedule a discussion exploring the law governing the case separate from the facts presented at trial.
June 13, 2022
Two Ohio counties told a federal judge Monday they still want billions to address the fallout from the opioid epidemic from three large pharmacy chains that a jury found contributed to the crisis, although the counties also said that questions about the size of the impacted population could warrant a smaller payout.
June 10, 2022
The federal judge steering multidistrict opioid litigation revisited a controversial order regarding discovery and attorney fees, but counsel for local governments said Friday that the purported clarification doesn't adequately address a high-profile call for Sixth Circuit intervention.
June 08, 2022
An addiction specialist called by the defense in a bellwether trial over claims Teva, Allergan, Anda and Walgreens illegally fueled San Francisco's opioid epidemic testified Wednesday that American's drug abuse problems predate the increased use of prescription opioids and can be pinned on myriad social, cultural and mental health causes.
June 07, 2022
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration created "confusion" internally and with prescription drug distributors when it began requiring new suspicious order monitoring systems as opioid use surged around 2006, a San Francisco judge heard Tuesday in recorded testimony played during a bellwether opioid bench trial.
June 02, 2022
A Walgreens executive took the stand in a bellwether opioid bench trial shortly after the city and county of San Francisco rested their case-in-chief Thursday, defending the pharmacy chain's compliance efforts and answering tough questions from the California federal judge presiding over the bench trial.