Trial date set for opioid class-action as Congress calls in distributors for testimony
A federal judge in Ohio setting a trial date for next March for cases from three of the cities and counties that have brought suit against drug companies.
As the opioid crisis drags on, the wheels of justice continue to turn, with distributors of opioids scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May and a federal judge in Ohio setting a trial date for next March for cases from three of the cities and counties that have brought suit against drug companies.
Reports from The Hill detail the actions, with the executives from five opioid distributors set to be questioned about how millions of pills flooded little towns in West Virginia. Meanwhile, Judge Dan Polster in Ohio is choosing cases from the “hundreds brought under Poster’s review” to serve as “bellwethers” that could bring settlements or further legal action to drive change.
In addition, the Senate Finance Committee has announced a hearing to be held next week on ways to better the response to the opioid epidemic by Medicare and Medicaid.
According to the first report, representatives from McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc., AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Miami-Luken, Inc. and H.D. Smith Wholesale Drug Company will testify before the House committee after an Energy and Commerce investigation found that the companies collectively distributed millions of pain pills just in that state, which has been the target of some of the worst effects of the epidemic.
Miami-Luken alone sent 4 million pills to the town of Oceana between 2008–2015. Oceana has a population of just 1,390 people. According to a letter from the committee to the company in January, “This means that in 2014 alone, Miami-Luken provided roughly 689 pills for every man, woman and child in Oceana.”
The lawsuit Polster scheduled for next year is part of “a massive combined lawsuit against drug manufacturers and distributors over the opioid epidemic,” says the report. Polster is quoted saying to Reuters in the report that while he wants a settlement, the companies have “asserted forcefully that they cannot reach final settlement without litigating certain matters.”
He is also quoted saying, “I’m confident we can do something to dramatically reduce the number of opioids that are being disseminated, manufactured and distributed. Just dramatically reduce the quantity and make sure that the pills that are manufactured and distributed go to the right people and no one else.”