September 05, 2019
Ohio's attorney general is making an eleventh-hour bid to block the first bellwether trial in multidistrict litigation pitting local governments against opioid makers and distributors, but to do so, he must first clear a high bar in showing the state government will be harmed by a trial it is not party to. Here, Law360 explores four key takeaways from the attorney general’s surprise gambit.
September 04, 2019
A jury will decide whether, under Ohio law, the opioid epidemic constitutes an "ongoing public nuisance," an Ohio federal judge ruled Wednesday in the multidistrict opioid litigation's lead bellwether cases, finding that underlying factual issues must first be determined at trial.
September 03, 2019
A jury could find that "complete failures" by drug companies to stop illicit painkiller shipments unleashed a harrowing epidemic of addiction, an Ohio federal judge ruled Tuesday in the multidistrict opioid litigation's lead bellwether cases.
August 30, 2019
Ohio's attorney general on Friday urged the Sixth Circuit to halt an upcoming bellwether trial that's part of multidistrict litigation against drugmakers blamed for the opioid crisis, calling the claims made by two Buckeye State counties in the bellwether case an "intrusion onto sovereign territory."
August 30, 2019
Allergan PLC on Friday said it had reached a $5 million settlement with two Ohio counties that are behind the lead bellwether cases in multidistrict opioid litigation.
August 29, 2019
The Ohio federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation over the opioid crisis on Thursday barred expert testimony about the drugmakers' compliance programs, shortly after excluding other experts from testifying that marketing by Purdue, Johnson & Johnson and others caused more sales.
August 20, 2019
Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Tuesday announced it will pay $10 million and donate up to $1 million in prescription drugs to exit the lead bellwether cases in multidistrict opioid litigation.
August 19, 2019
The Ohio federal judge supervising multidistrict opioid litigation approved lead attorneys Monday for a proposed "negotiation class" of local governments that would pursue nationwide settlements with drug companies accused of sparking a devastating addiction crisis.
August 08, 2019
Twenty months after the kickoff of multidistrict opioid litigation, lawyers close to the historic legal showdown say settlement talks are nowhere near the end zone. But they may be poised for a shot of adrenaline from a looming trial date and a novel "negotiation class" plan.
August 06, 2019
An Ohio federal judge on Tuesday appeared likely to approve provocative plans to broker settlements in the multidistrict opioid litigation by using a first-of-its-kind "negotiation class" potentially consisting of every city and county in the U.S.