Opioid Lawsuit Decision Appealed By West Virginia Officials

Opioid Lawsuit Decision Appealed By West Virginia Officials

Introduction

A historic lawsuit accusing three major U.S. drug distributors of distributing 81 million pills over eight years and sparking an opioid crisis is being appealed by county officials in West Virginia.

The July 4 decision was unanimously approved by the Cabell County Commission on Thursday, and Huntington Mayor even announced the city intends to appeal.

In the action brought by Cabell County and the city of Huntington against AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc., and McKesson Corp., the judgment was rendered about a year after closing arguments in a bench trial.

The district attorney for Cabell County had argued that the distributors should be held accountable for dispersing a "tsunami" of prescription painkillers into the neighborhood and that the defendants' actions were irrational, careless, and disregardful of the public's health and safety in a region beset by opioid addiction.

The pharmaceutical industry put the blame on an increase in doctor-written prescriptions, poor communication, and pill quotas established by government officials.

Although it was claimed in the case that the distributors caused a public nuisance, the court determined that West Virginia's Supreme Court has only ever applied the doctrine of public nuisances in situations when activity endangers public resources or property. It "is incongruous with the historical and established conceptions of annoyance," he claimed, to extend the statute to embrace the promotion and sale of opiates.

The county commissioner said that they were left holding the bag as a result of the opioid problem, and we believe that we must move forward and collaborate with the city in an effort to appeal this ruling. The vote was praised by the mayor, who also pledged that the city would not give up. The truth is that over 800 individuals have died from overdoses in Cabell County during the past five years. The people who attacked our neighborhood must be held accountable by the authorities. The trial's outcome has left the authorities extremely dissatisfied, yet they remain even more motivated than before.