Abraham Jewett  |  October 5, 2021

Category: Legal News

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opioid crisis
(Photo Credit: Philip Lange/Shutterstock)

Pharma Opioid Crisis Lawsuit Overview: 

  • Who: A trial between Lake County and Trumbull County and CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart starts Monday. 
  • Why: CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart exacerbated an opioid crisis in the area by unlawfully dispensing and distributing large amounts of prescription narcotics, claims the bellwether complaint.
  • Where: The litigation is pending in Ohio federal court.

Northeastern Ohio’s Lake County and Trumbull County are set to square off with national pharmacies today in a trial revolving around the country’s opioid crisis

Lake and Trumbull are arguing that CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart have exacerbated an opioid crisis by unlawfully dispensing and distributing large amounts of prescription narcotics, which has led to extreme financial stress and loss of life in the region. 

The first of six trials are set to begin today in a federal court in Cleveland, where the multidistrict litigation (MDL) has been centralized. 

Rite Aid, Other Pharma Cos Escape Opioid Crisis Trials

Rite Aid had also been a defendant but recently reached a settlement agreement in order to get out of the current trial involving Lake and Trumbull counties. 

Rite Aid had been considered a central figure in the Lake and Trumbull counties opioid trial, as it was reportedly one of the largest distributors of prescription narcotics between 2006 and 2014, reports Law360. It’s settlement deal must still be approved by county commissioners, according to a joint motion. 

The company had been accused by Lake County of large-scale misconduct by not doing enough to tackle improper opioid prescriptions while, instead, investing large amounts of money to help it dispense the painkillers. 

“In contrast to its lack of robust policies to ensure only prescriptions issued for a legitimate medical purpose were dispensed, Rite Aid had numerous and detailed policies regarding metrics to ensure its profitability,” states Lake County’s complaint.

CVS, Walgreen, Walmart, and Rite Aid all inked last-minute settlement deals in June to avoid a similar opioid trial in New York state court. 

Opioid Crisis Continues as Trials Begin

James Misocky, Trumbull’s special projects coordinator, told Law360 the national pharmacies have all contributed to the opioid crisis, which is beginning to overwhelm the county’s support systems. 

“There’s already a great stress on all the social services in the community,” Misocky said. 

Between 2014 and 2019, Trumbull had a drug overdose death rate of 53.3 per 100,000 residents while Lake had a death rate of 34.7 per 100,000 residents, placing them sixth and 29th worst among 88 Ohio counties, reports Law360. 

Misocky told Law360 that every death burdens the county because they must be individually investigated and causes a ripple effect on the criminal justice system and the social safety net of the community. 

“It’s had a big financial impact on a community that’s already been burdened with a lot of other economic loss,” Misocky said. 

Did Pharmacies Contribute to the Opioid Crisis? 

The central question of the trial is whether the pharmacies created a “public nuisance,” by contributing to rampant opioid abuse, overdose deaths, crime, orphaned children, and viral infection stemming from intravenous drug use. 

Plaintiff counties are seeking upwards of a billion dollars in damages, which are formally being called abatement money to treat addiction and overdoses, reports Law360. 

The pharmacies, meanwhile, have denied any wrongdoing and, one month before the first scheduled trial in 2019, attacked the integrity of U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster — who is overseeing the MDL —  by claiming he “failed to maintain the appearance of impartiality,” according to Law360. 

The 2019 trial ultimately never got off the ground due to settlements between the drugmaker and the distributors, however, further attacks were launched early last year against Polster, who responded by setting up the new trial which is starting today, reports Law360. 

Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid have also attempted to place the blame on the doctors writing the prescriptions, and in November 2020, lashed out after the Ohio counties attempted to strike down the chains’ claims against healthcare workers. 

“Let there be no doubt: The pharmacy defendants disagree in strongest possible terms with Plaintiffs’ position that a vast number of healthcare providers across northern Ohio practice medicine with such disregard for the law, their professional obligations, and the health and safety of their patients and communities,” the pharmacies said.

The pharmacies have argued that their pharmacists are simply filling the prescriptions written by Ohio doctors, and, thus, if there are too many opioids being distributed, the fault lies with those writing them, not those filling them. 

The court dismissed the complaint in March, ruling that adding the claims would make the trial much more complex.

Hunter Shkolnik, who is representing the Ohio Counties, said the fault lies with the pharmacies alone.

“The chain pharmacies have beaten this drum to death, blaming every doctor and person that became addicted in these counties because those pharmacy defendants broke the law is like saying it’s OK for a driver to speed and run a red light and run a pedestrian over because they were walking outside the lines,” Shkolnik told Law360 in November of last year. “Had the pharmacies done their job we wouldn’t be here.” 

In September, the three largest drug distributors in the nation, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson inked a $808 million settlement with the state of Ohio to resolve opioid litigation, reports Law360. 

The agreement came just months after a global settlement worth $26 billion was reached in July with the three distributors and Johnson & Johnson.

Do you believe CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens are responsible for exacerbating the opioid crisis? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Simmons Hanly Conroy, Motley Rice LLC, Farrell & Fuller LLC, The Lanier Law Firm, Spangenberg Shibley & Liber, Plevin & Gallucci Co. LPA, and Napoli Shkolnik PLLC.

The Pharmacy Opioid Crisis Lawsuits are County of Lake v. Purdue Pharma LP et al., Case No. 1:18-op-45032, County of Trumbull v. Purdue Pharma LP et al., Case No. 1:18-op-45079, and In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, Case No. 1:17-md-02804, all in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.


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9 thoughts onTrial Begins in Ohio Over Allegations Walmart, CVS, Walgreens Contributed to Opioid Crisis

  1. Shunda Hawkins says:

    I’m not sure why the black and brown community is left out. These manufacturers almost killed me with the no risk efforts to approve such controls.

  2. Silvana Medina says:

    I was addicted for over 25 years and I will go to different pharmacy to get my opiate don’t ever ask a question they took the prescription and dispense the drugs allowing more users to get addicted to overdose and to die while these companies were making big moneyI would like to be part of this action lawsuit I get compensated thank you.

  3. Kelly says:

    Why can’t prescription oxycontin users sue the FDA for labeling it less than 1% get addicted. It was the FDA, so why can’t the people sue the gov for not taking care of their own interests. The Fda along with Purdue lied to doctors, pharmacies, and patients. I think the FDA should own a big part of the opioid crisis.

  4. Ser says:

    I wish i knew about the other lawsuit for Opioid because my brother first started using pills and then got hooked on heroin he tried to fix his life and was going to rehab for it he was in and out of rehab and kept on relapsing this last time he lasted about 2 years until he released again 6 months ago was when he passed away a week before his birthday

  5. Sheri trego says:

    Add me

    1. Lisa says:

      I was getting opiate pain medication in Fl. At CVS and Walgreens for years. Being so accessible definitely contributed to my addiction.

  6. Ray Carlson, RPh says:

    The defense claims that all a pharmacist is required to do is put the prescribed pills in a bottle and label it exactly as ordered. I hope the plaintiffs bring up federal OBRA-90 Drug Use Review law and subsequent Ohio Board of Pharmacy Rules (4729-5-18). Read these laws passed in 1990…it will make you wonder how an opiate problem was ever able to get off the ground. The entire law was passed in order to prevent such a scourge and it defines what a pharmacist must do before handing a drug over to a patient. These chains have been filling a script every 60 seconds and there is no way they can comply. See the latest Ohio Board of Pharmacy Workplace Survey…completed by pharmacists when they renewed their license…they are screaming about unsafe conditions behind the counter. Too many scripts too fast for the sake of profits.

  7. Angelica Romero says:

    I use rite aid for Rx. Add me if eligible.

  8. Angela says:

    Add me please

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