May 07, 2021
Major pharmacy chains asked an Oklahoma federal judge Friday to let them appeal a key ruling that several drug distributors have already targeted in the Cherokee Nation's bellwether opioid suit, as well as other questions about the pharmacies' duties under the Controlled Substances Act.
May 04, 2021
West Virginia communities moved forcefully Tuesday to show that prescription opioids have been a "gateway" leading Americans on deadly paths to heroin and illicit fentanyl, escalating a crucial and controversial debate in multidistrict opioid litigation's leadoff trial.
May 03, 2021
The first opioid-crisis trial in federal court started Monday, with West Virginia communities saying vast sales of narcotic painkillers are an obvious explanation for vast numbers of deaths, and drug companies describing themselves as scapegoats for the failures and crimes of others.
April 29, 2021
Drug distributors have asked an Oklahoma federal judge to let them appeal a ruling in the Cherokee Nation's bellwether suit that found the companies shouldn't have shipped "suspicious orders" of opioids, arguing that the Controlled Substances Act and related regulations don't impose a duty not to fill those orders.
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.