{66 Judge rules Walgreens contributed to San Francisco opioid crisis
A federal judge in Cleveland said Wednesday Ohio county, which awarded two men $650 million in damages, won a landmark lawsuit against national pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart over how opioids were distributed to customers. claimed to have caused serious harm to the local community.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster said in his ruling that the funds would be used to alleviate the ongoing opioid crisis in the Cleveland suburbs of Lake and Trumbull counties. Attorneys said he was putting a $1 billion price tag on the damage done to each county.
Lake County expects him to receive $306 million over 15 years. Trumbull County expects her to receive $444 million over the same period. Polster ordered his company to pay nearly $87 million to cover his first two years.
Polster warned in its ruling that the three companies "wasted an opportunity to present meaningful plans to reduce nuisance."
``In Search of Deep Bosses''.
Walmart issued a statement saying county attorneys "sued Walmart for ample funds. The ruling follows a trial designed to favor the plaintiffs' attorneys." We will appeal.”
A Walgreens spokesperson also said the company would appeal.
"Facts and law do not support the jury's verdict last fall, nor do they support the current court decision," said spokesperson Fraser Engerman. “The court committed a serious legal error by allowing litigation before a jury based on a flawed legal theory that was inconsistent with Ohio law, and in reaching a judgment on damages, they
CVS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Today's news means that much-needed funding will soon be available to provide assistance to adequately address the damage caused by this devastating epidemic.
Lake County Commissioner John Hammercheck said in a statement: A
jury ruled against the pharmacy chain, a
jury said that he had the county in November after a six-week trial. gave a verdict in favor of It then fell to Pollster to determine how much money the county would receive from her three pharmacy companies. He heard testimony in May to determine how much damages the county should receive. Based.
County convinced jurors that pharmacies play a huge role in creating public nuisance by distributing 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 are 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.
The opioid crisis is overwhelming courts, social services and law enforcement in Ohio's blue-collar corner east of Cleveland, from grief-stricken families and addicted mothers.
80 million tablets
In Trumbull County alone, approximately 80 million pills were sold between 2012 and 2016. Prescription pain relievers were dispensed. This equates to 400 tablets per inhabitant. Lake County distributed approximately 61 million pills during this period.
The increase in physicians prescribing pain relievers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone is because medical groups have begun to recognize that patients have a right to pain treatment, said a Walgreens attorney. One Kaspar Stoffelmayr said at the beginning of the trial.
The problem, he said, was that "pharmaceutical companies tricked doctors into writing too many pills."
The county said pharmacies should be the last line of defense to keep drugs from falling into the wrong hands. It was part of a wider range of approximately 3,000 federal opioid lawsuits consolidated under scrutiny. 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 He said it could follow the same path as pharmaceutical companies. The multi-billion dollar opioid case. So far, no pharmacy has reached a nationwide settlement.
- In:
- Litigation
- Cleveland
- Ohio
Thank you for reading CBS NEWS.
Create a free account or
log in for more features.
