Case Explained: ALLIED PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY AMCO INSURANCE COMPANY v. BLOODWORTH WHOLESALE DRUGS INC

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-06-11 Docket: 7:22-cv-00113-WLS The Eleventh Circuit certified two questions of state law to the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Supreme Court of Florida regarding whether liability insurance policies must defend and indemnify pharmacies against lawsuits arising from the opioid epidemic. The court determined that it could not resolve these issues under existing Georgia or Florida precedent because the cases presented novel questions of first impression with significant consequences for the states’ insurance markets, involving billions of dollars in potential coverage. The court applied the standard of federalism and comity, which directs federal courts to certify difficult and important questions of state law to the highest state courts when there are no clear controlling precedents. The court found that while general principles of contract interpretation exist—such as construing ambiguous terms against insurers—the specific application of policy language defining “damages because of bodily injury” to mass tort claims seeking recovery for public health costs was not settled in either jurisdiction. Consequently, the Eleventh Circuit declined to substitute its own intuition for that of the state supreme courts and formally certified the question: “Do the insurance policies in this case require the insurers to defend and/or indemnify the insured in the underlying opioid lawsuits?” The practical consequence is that the records for both consolidated appeals (No. 24-11398 and No. 25-11185) have been sent to the respective state supreme courts for resolution. The federal appellate proceedings are effectively paused pending the state courts’ answers, after which the Eleventh Circuit will likely remand the cases or issue a final judgment based on the state court’s interpretation of the insurance policies. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.