Opioid Litigations and Public Nuisance: Updates From California, Oklahoma, and Ohio

On February 25, 2022, Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health, Inc., and Amerisourcebergen Corp. announced that they had agreed to finalize a reported $26 billion settlement to resolve approximately 3,000 lawsuits from state and local governments regarding the opioid abuse crisis. The private plaintiffs’ trial firms representing the counties and municipalities filed the first lawsuit in California in 2014. The proposed settlement allocates approximately $2.3 billion for the plaintiffs' attorneys’ fees and costs. The most controversial legal issue was whether the defendants’ marketing created a “public nuisance.” The companies continue to face claims in Alabama, Washington, West Virginia and Oklahoma, where in November 2021 the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the state’s public nuisance statute did not extend to the manufacturing, marketing, and selling of prescription opioids. On November 23, 2021, an Ohio federal jury found CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart pharmacies liable for recklessly distributing opioids in Lake and Trumbull counties in Ohio. Rite Aid and Giant Eagle settled in 2021. U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster is scheduled to decide damages this spring. Please join us on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at 2:00pm EST/11:00am PST, as John Shu, who has been following the national litigations, will hold a Zoom webinar to update us on the litigations in California, Oklahoma, and Ohio, and discuss their legal and strategic issues. Featuring:--John Shu, Professor, Attorney, and Legal Commentator