U.S. drug distributors prevail in $2.5 billion West Virginia opioid case By Reuters

By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) -Main U.S. drug distributors McKesson Corp (NYSE:), AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:) Corp and Cardinal Well being Inc (NYSE:) usually are not liable for fueling an opioid epidemic in part of West Virginia, a federal decide dominated on Monday.

U.S. District Decide David Faber rejected efforts by the town of Huntington and Cabell County to drive the nation’s three largest pharmaceutical distributors to pay $2.5 billion to deal with a drug disaster prompted by a flood of addictive capsules of their area.

However following a months-long trial that ended final 12 months, Faber stated the businesses didn’t trigger any oversupply of opioids, saying docs’ “good religion” prescribing selections drove the amount of painkillers they shipped to pharmacies.

Whereas the businesses from 2006 to 2014 shipped 51.3 million opioid capsules to retail pharmacies within the communities, “there’s nothing unreasonable about distributing managed substances to satisfy legally written prescriptions,” Faber wrote.

“The opioid disaster has taken a substantial toll on the residents of Cabell County and the town of Huntington,” he wrote. “And whereas there’s a pure tendency to assign blame in such instances, they should be determined not based mostly on sympathy, however on the info and the regulation.”

Steve Williams, Huntington’s mayor, in a press release known as the choice “a blow to our metropolis and neighborhood.” Town had sought to drive the businesses to assist fund opioid remedy applications.

The businesses welcomed the ruling, which AmerisourceBergen stated struck down the notion that the distribution of U.S. Meals and Drug Administration-approved medicine to licensed well being care suppliers may very well be deemed a public nuisance.

Cardinal Well being and McKesson in separate statements stated the distributors had maintained techniques to stop the diversion of opioids to illicit channels.

Greater than 3,300 lawsuits have been filed, largely by state and native governments, looking for to carry these and different corporations liable for an opioid abuse epidemic linked to greater than 500,000 overdose deaths during the last 20 years.

The distributors, together with drugmaker Johnson & (J&J (NYSE:)), final 12 months agreed to pay as much as $26 billion to resolve the 1000’s of lawsuits introduced in opposition to them by state and native governments across the nation.

However communities in hard-hit West Virginia opted in opposition to becoming a member of a nationwide opioid settlement in favor of looking for an even bigger restoration. One other trial pitting the distributors in opposition to West Virginia communities begins Tuesday in state courtroom.

Monday’s ruling provides to the blended file for opioid instances which have gone to trial nationally, with courts in Oklahoma and California final 12 months rejecting related claims in opposition to drugmakers like J&J.

A federal jury in November discovered pharmacy chain operators CVS Well being Corp (NYSE:), Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:) Inc and Walmart (NYSE:) Inc liable in a case filed by two Ohio counties. A New York jury discovered Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE:) Ltd liable in December in a case by the state and two counties.