Federal Judge Schedules Opioid Crisis Trial Against Pharmacy Chains for October 2020

Los Angeles, California -

A federal judge has scheduled a trial against major pharmacy chains for next October because of their alleged role in the opioid crisis. Judge Dan Aaron Polster proposed sending three other cases back to other federal courts where they originated. This move seeks to kick-start the sprawling nationwide opioid litigation.

The Ohio federal judge is in charge of nearly 2,500 lawsuits filed against the drug industry in federal courts across the country. Polster said he would preside over a case that pits two Ohio counties, Summit and Cuyahoga, against some of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains, including Walgreens, CVS, and Rite-Aid, among others. Polster set the trial for October 13.

Drug manufacturers and distributors have agreed, or have been ordered, to pay multiple settlements reaching hundreds of millions of dollars in state and federal courts this year. Pharmacy chains, on the other hand, have so far escaped without contributing.

When the first federal trial against six drug industry defendants ended in an 11th-hour settlement, Walgreens did not participate. It is worth noting that Walgreens was the lone pharmacy chain among the defendants.

Polster has been presiding over what is called the National prescription Opiate Litigation. This is a collection of lawsuits filed by cities, counties, Native American tribes, and others against major players in the drug industry. Those lawsuits seek payments for companies’ alleged roles in the current opioid epidemic. More than 400,000 people have died to this epidemic over the past two decades.

The lawsuits were consolidated in Polster’s northeast Ohio courthouse beginning in 2017 by a panel of federal judges and have grown to nearly 2,500.

The case that was previously settled was considered a “bellwether trial”—it is designed to help predict how other parties might fare if their cases eventually came before a jury. The settlement reached $260 million. It included drug manufacturers and wholesalers such as McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and Teva Pharmaceuticals. The settlement canceled the proceeding just hours before it was set to begin.

Polster has been urging a mass settlement for nearly two years now. However, this has not been possible until recently because of so many competing interests.

“What the court has learned is that if it proceeds with the bellwether trial process as it has so far, it will simply take too long to reach each category of plaintiff and defendant, much less each individual plaintiff and defendant. Meanwhile, the opioid crisis shows no sign of ending,” the Ohio federal judge said.

This is why Polster proposed sending three trials to other federal courts. It is an effort to get the ball rolling again. A similar lawsuit filed by the city of Chicago against Purdue Pharma and other drug manufacturers would go back to federal court in Illinois. Purdue has previously filed for bankruptcy and a federal judge has halted all litigation against the company and its owners, members of the Sackler family, until April.

Polster offered to handle another seven cases that target various parts of the drug industry. But first, the judges who sent him the federal cases, known as the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, must approve his plan.

If someone in the family is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, it is important to seek help. A combination of medical detox and behavioral therapy can go a long way in the fight against drug abuse. But because every individual is affected by addiction differently, a comprehensive program tailored to their specific needs is necessary. Look for a nearby addiction treatment facility today and find out how drug treatment programs work.