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
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.
March 31, 2021
The federal judge overseeing the soon-approaching West Virginia bellwether trial in multidistrict litigation over the nation's opioid crisis on Wednesday shot down drug distributors' attempts to ditch the sole public nuisance claim brought by local governments.
March 18, 2021
Opioid distributors fighting to end an upcoming bellwether trial before it starts told a West Virginia federal judge Thursday that the "public nuisance" claim anchoring the case doesn't actually apply.
January 06, 2021
A West Virginia federal judge on Wednesday set a May trial date for the three major drug distributors over claims they fueled the opioid crisis, waving away their protestations that the coronavirus vaccine rollout has been troublingly slow and saying it's time to "get some closure."
January 03, 2021
After a year in which the coronavirus pandemic swiped numerous important trials off the table, 2021 is widely hoped to bring broad vaccine availability and a return to the courtroom for many who have been awaiting their days in court.
December 03, 2020
A West Virginia federal court on Thursday delayed a planned January opioid trial after the three major U.S. drug distributors argued the worsening coronavirus pandemic made it too dangerous, but the judge hinted the rescheduled trial could be partially remote.
December 02, 2020
A West Virginia county and city asked a federal court Tuesday to stick with a planned January trial date for bellwether claims against the three major U.S. drug distributors over the opioid crisis, saying opening arguments and more can be done remotely amid the coronavirus crisis.