June 17, 2020
A group of pharmacies is asking an Ohio federal judge to dismiss complaints by two Ohio counties alleging the pharmacies contributed to the opioid epidemic, saying the counties are suing under public nuisance laws that don't fit their claims.
June 15, 2020
An Ohio federal judge on Monday rejected a bid by pharmacies involved in the sprawling opioid multidistrict litigation to rescind a ruling forcing them to put discovery documents into a common repository, saying the ruling aligns with the purposes of an MDL and imposes "virtually zero" burden on the companies.
June 12, 2020
The Cherokee Nation asked an Oklahoma federal judge Thursday to reject a bid by major drug distributors and pharmacies to toss the tribe's suit alleging they created the opioid crisis that has harmed it, saying their arguments for dismissal have already been rejected in vast opioid multidistrict litigation centralized in Ohio federal court.
June 03, 2020
An Ohio federal judge overseeing sprawling opioid multidistrict litigation adopted the recommendation of a Harvard Law School professor that more information is needed before he can approve a request for a common benefit fund setting aside $3.3 billion in attorney fees.
May 28, 2020
Major drug companies represented by Covington & Burling LLP and other BigLaw firms "jeopardized the health" of an FBI agent by serving subpoenas at his home during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a U.S. Department of Justice filing in opioid crisis litigation.
May 27, 2020
Two Ohio counties in bellwether cases hit pharmacy chains with claims Wednesday that they created a public nuisance by failing to monitor suspicious orders of opioids and only belatedly put in systems to detect those orders.
May 22, 2020
AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. violated its discovery duties in multidistrict opioid litigation by not promptly producing key documents, including an internal email chain that joked about "pillbillies" abusing painkillers, plaintiffs attorneys told an Ohio federal judge.
April 30, 2020
The Ohio federal judge overseeing multidistrict opioid litigation picked two cases Thursday for a bellwether trial in 2021 to test allegations that the nation's largest pharmacy chains fueled the opioid crisis by dispensing painkiller prescriptions they should have known weren't appropriate.
April 28, 2020
Big pharmacy chains on Tuesday objected to plans in the multidistrict opioid litigation to select a new bellwether case to test allegations of improper painkiller dispensing, saying another case in Northern Ohio federal court would be overkill.
April 22, 2020
Mental health advocates on Tuesday told the Ohio federal judge overseeing opioid multidistrict litigation that half of the settlement funds from the litigation should be used to form a foundation addressing mental illness.