Walmart Hit With Discovery Sanctions In Opioid MDL

Walmart Hit With Discovery Sanctions In Opioid MDL

Introduction

Walmart is now listed as one of the defendants in the multidistrict litigation (MDL) in Ohio with allegations that Walmart’s pharmacies improperly distributed opioids fueling the nationwide epidemic.

The MDL includes more than 2,000 opioid-related claims from the state, local, and tribal governments. The special master, David Cohen, who is overseeing the MDL discovery, ordered new declarations of Walmart witnesses by sanctioning the company for insurgence with a longstanding discovery order. The order states the defendants need to provide relevant documents from other opioid cases, which are not part of the consolidated cases.

Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, and other pharmacies requested to remove the 2019 motion that included cases outside of the MDL. The companies argued that ruling from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April 2020 was an overly broad request for discovery. However, in June 2020, the judge refused to withdraw the request.

Walmart provided a PowerPoint presentation to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which included documents covered under the order. The judge stated that Delaware's opioid litigation is related to Walmart's prescription policies, and shareholders are seeking for access to its records.

The judge stated that Walmart provided illogical explanations of the order to tackle the production of the documents and use it to delay or avoid complying with the court orders.

The spokesperson for Walmart said that the company is following the rules of the court and will continue to defend the litigation. However, the recently sanctioned order has only worsened the matters for the retailer in the litigation.

In October 2017, National Prescription Opiate Litigation MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation) was formed overlooked by U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster.