Article Author:
Associated Press
Mark Gillispie
CLEVELAND (AP) — A federal judge in Cleveland on Wednesday awarded two Ohio counties $650 million in won a landmark lawsuit against pharmacy chain CVS. , Walgreens, and Walmart argued that the methods of distributing opioids to customers caused serious harm to their communities. It said it would be used to mitigate the ongoing opioid crisis in the Cleveland suburbs of Lake and Trumbull counties. rice field.
Lake County said he expects to receive $306 million over 15 years. Trumbull County expects him to receive $444 million over the same period. Polster ordered his company to pay nearly $87 million to cover his first two years.
In the judgment, Pollster warned the three companies that he had "squandered the opportunity to present a meaningful plan to alleviate the nuisance."
A jury returned him a verdict in favor of the county in November after a six-week trial. It then fell to Polster to determine how much money the county would receive from his three pharmacy companies. He heard testimony in May to determine how much damages the county should receive.[30][31]In the judgment, Polster advised his three companies to: did.
CVS has offices in Walgreens, Rhode Island, Illinois, and Walmart, Arkansas.
The county convinced jurors that pharmacies played a very large role in creating public nuisance in the way they dispensed pain relievers to communities.
} It was the first time a pharmacy company had completed a trial to defend itself in the drug crisis that has killed half a million Americans since 1999.
Lawyers at pharmacy chains stop the flow of pills when pharmacists become concerned and notify authorities of questionable orders from doctors.
The pharmacy chain said it would appeal the jury verdict after the trial.
Two chains — Rite Aid and Giant Eagle — settled their lawsuits with the county before trial. The amount they paid was not made public.
County attorney Mark Lanier said during the trial that the pharmacy was trying to blame everyone but himself. Overwhelming courts, social services and law enforcement in Ohio's blue-collar corner, leaving behind babies born to grief-stricken families and addicted mothers, Lanier told jurors Told.
About 80 million prescription pain relievers were dispensed between 2012 and 2016 in Trumbull County alone. This equates to 400 per resident. Lake County distributed approximately 61 million pills during this period.
Physicians are increasingly prescribing pain relievers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone as medical groups begin to recognize that patients have a right to pain treatment. Walgreens attorney Kaspar Stoffelmayr said. beginning of the trial.
The problem, he said, was that "pharmaceutical companies tricked doctors into writing too many pills."
County said pharmacies should be the last line of defense to keep drugs out of the wrong hands.
Polster's previous trial was part of a wider range of approximately 3,000 federal opioid lawsuits consolidated under his supervision. Other lawsuits are pending in state court.
Kevin Roy, chief public policy officer for Shatterproof, an organization that advocates for addiction solutions, said in November that the ruling would force pharmacies to sell to large distributors and some pharmaceutical companies. He said it could follow the same path as the company. The multi-billion dollar opioid case. So far, no pharmacy has reached a nationwide settlement.
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