April 29, 2021
After years of sparring in multidistrict litigation over the opioid crisis, Appalachian communities and deep-pocketed drug corporations will face off Monday in the MDL's first bellwether trial. Here, Law360 looks at the lead lawyers, pivotal disputes and bleak accounts of American towns falling apart.
April 26, 2021
A West Virginia federal judge on Monday rejected a bid by drug distributors to end a bellwether suit in the national opioid multidistrict litigation, saying the court isn't prepared to find that municipalities can't seek funding as abatement for a public nuisance claim.
April 19, 2021
Walmart Inc. intentionally flouted its discovery duties in multidistrict opioid litigation, and the retail giant concocted disingenuous and nonsensical excuses for its failures, according to a new ruling that awarded sanctions and threatened "serious monetary fines" for future violations.
April 08, 2021
Despite drugmaker warnings of "harmful and unwarranted" disruption, an Illinois magistrate judge withdrew Thursday from Chicago's bellwether case against drugmakers in multidistrict opioid litigation after the city flagged his sister's new role overseeing thousands of opioid cases for AbbVie Inc.
April 07, 2021
The Ohio federal judge supervising multidistrict opioid litigation selected five additional cases Wednesday for bellwether trials against major pharmacy chains, while flatly rejecting assertions that he's punishing the companies for not settling.
April 05, 2021
An Ohio federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation over the opioid crisis said Monday he won't rethink his order directing parties to tee up another batch of bellwether trials against four major pharmacy chains, reiterating his earlier decision that more bellwethers are necessary to determine the value of the claims.
April 02, 2021
The nation's biggest pharmacy chains, increasingly squeezed by multidistrict opioid litigation as other major drug companies eye the exits, are lashing out with insinuations of judicial bias in a bold bid to avoid choosing between treacherous trials and super-sized settlements.
March 31, 2021
Seven years after becoming the first city to sue drugmakers over the opioid crisis, Chicago on Wednesday saw its bellwether case in multidistrict litigation survive another flurry of attacks, keeping it on track for a long-awaited trial.
March 30, 2021
Plaintiffs attorneys diverged late Tuesday on whether a fast-rising tide of opioid-crisis lawsuits against McKinsey & Co. belongs in new or existing multidistrict litigation, but they found common ground in deriding the consulting giant's quest for an MDL near its New York City headquarters.
March 29, 2021
An Oklahoma federal judge Monday rejected sweeping attacks on one of the biggest cases blaming drug companies for opioid abuse on Native American lands but also signaled that the multidistrict litigation bellwether has potential vulnerabilities.