W.VA Claims Opioid Manufacturers Fueled The Opioid Epidemic

W.VA Claims Opioid Manufacturers Fueled The Opioid Epidemic

Introduction

The first opioid crisis trial started in the federal court on May 3, 2021, where the communities of West Virginia claimed that narcotic painkiller manufacturers are responsible for numerous deaths across the country due to opioids.

West Virginia's Cabell County and its largest city, Huntington are the worst-hit areas due to the opioid epidemic. Cabell County's attorney summoned the principle of "Occam's razor" as it was the simplest and correct explanation for the trial.

The attorney even stated that though the MDL is the largest and most complex litigation in the history of the United States, the simple truth was that the manufacturer distributed the painkiller in huge quantity which resulted in the deaths of 1,100 people in Cabell County in the past decade.

According to a U.S census, the number of residents in the county has reduced from 96,000 a decade earlier to 92,000 in 2019.

The drug distributors, AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., and McKesson Corp. are blaming the lawbreakers and regulators for the epidemic.

Currently, many lawsuits from cities and counties across the country have been filed in the MDL, which began in 2017. The drugmakers and pharmacies are also facing other bellwether cases, which will go for trial soon.

Attorney for AmerisourceBergen, an American wholesale drug company that had the largest market share in Cabell County for the distribution of hydrocodone and oxycodone, stated that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) mishandled the reports of the manufacturers or maybe the reports went unnoticed. Counsel for Cardinal Health stated that the supplier adjusts its supply as per the demand of the health care industry in terms of narcotic painkillers, as well as the protective gear amidst the coronavirus pandemic. McKesson's attorney said that the people who use prescription and illicit opiates may also use illegal drugs such as cocaine for which the company cannot be blamed.

Earlier two opioid trials have been held in state courts outside the MDL where Oklahoma won a $465 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in 2019. J&J has even appealed for its defeat in the lawsuit. Another trial began last month that included California counties and several drugmakers.