Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Major Drug Distributors in Lawsuit Over Opioid Addiction Crisis

A judge has ruled in favor of three U.S. drug distributors in a lawsuit over the ongoing opioid addiction crisis.

A federal judge made the ruling in favor of AmerisourceBergen Corporation, McKesson Corporation, and Cardinal Health Inc. on Monday. Per Reuters, U.S. District Judge David Faber argued in his ruling in the West Virginia-focused suit that there is “nothing unreasonable about distributing controlled substances to fulfill legally written prescriptions.”

Of particular note in Faber’s opinion, as highlighted in a separate WVPB report, is the suit’s allegation that the companies had “created a public nuisance” with the distribution of roughly 81 million pills over an eight-year period in Cabell County.

In short, Faber argued prior applications of public nuisance have only involved instances of public property and the resources. In the judge’s opinion, it’s stated that applying it in this instance would mark an “inconsistent” expansion of the law. Furthermore, Faber said, both Cabell County and the city of Huntington “failed” to prove the companies engaged in “unreasonable conduct.”

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the suit, meanwhile, argued the opposite in a post-ruling statement.

“We felt the evidence that emerged from witness statements, company documents, and extensive datasets showed these defendants were responsible for creating and overseeing the infrastructure that flooded West Virginia with opioids,” attorneys said Monday.

The more than $2.5 billion sought by plaintiffs in the suit would have been used to facilitate a long-term plan aimed at lowering the number of regional overdoses, among other opioid-related issues in the area.