National Prescription Opioid Litigation News

Insurer Need Not Defend Drug Chain in Opioid Suits Claiming Economic, Not Personal, Injury

In the latest turn in litigation over the opioid crisis, a state’s high court has found an insurer does not need to pay defense costs under a commercial general liability policy for a pharmacy chain facing public nuisance lawsuits. The …

Why Jury’s Opioid Verdict Against Pharmacy Chains May Not Survive Appeal

While a Cleveland jury concluded Walmart Inc., CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. exacerbated Ohio’s opioid epidemic with lax oversight of prescription painkillers, the verdict may not survive on appeal, according to legal experts. The companies, which vowed …

Ohio Jury Finds Major Pharmacy Chains Fueled Opioid Crisis

A Cleveland jury concluded Walmart Inc., CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. helped create a public-health crisis by failing to properly monitor opioid prescriptions, the drug industry’s latest loss in the expanding litigation over the painkillers. The federal-court …

Setting the Stage for Thousands of Opioid Lawuits, Potentially Years of Litigation

A corner of West Virginia wrenched by opioid addiction is getting the chance to argue in a courtroom that some of the corporate giants it blames for a public health crisis that left hundreds of people dead deserve to be …

Judge Nixes 7% Plaintiffs Attorneys’ Fee on Opioid Settlements

A federal judge overseeing thousands of opioid lawsuits declined on Monday to grant a demand by plaintiffs attorneys for fees that could be worth billions of dollars, a request drug company defendants had said would jeopardize settlement talks. In February, …

Opioid Firms Warn Lawyers’ Bid for 7% Fee Jeopardizes Settlement

Johnson & Johnson and other drug companies facing thousands of lawsuits over their role in the opioid epidemic have warned that settlement talks will be “severely” jeopardized if plaintiffs’ lawyers are allowed to assess a fee payment worth billions of …

Several States Have Doubts About $48 Billion Opioid Settlement Offer

Several U.S. states that have been ravaged by the opioid epidemic are pushing back on a proposed $48 billion settlement framework that would resolve thousands of lawsuits against five drug companies accused of fueling the addiction crisis. The proposal would …

After Avoiding Ohio Trial, Drug Firms Turn to Local Government Opioid Lawsuits

Four large drug companies could resume talks on Tuesday to try to reach a $48 billion settlement of all opioid litigation against them, after agreeing with two Ohio counties to a $260 million deal to avert the first federal trial …

Judge Calls on Big 3 Drug CEOs to Discuss Opioid Settlement

The chief executives of the three largest U.S. drug distributors and a drugmaker have been summoned to appear before a federal judge to discuss a proposal to resolve thousands of lawsuits alleging they fueled the U.S. opioid crisis, a person …

Three Major Drug Distributors Negotiating to Settle Bellwether Opioid Case: WSJ

Three drug distributors are in talks with state and local governments to settle thousands of opioid lawsuits for $18 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the discussions. McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Corp. and Cardinal Health …