U.S. drug distributors prevail in $2.5 billion West Virginia opioid case

Tablets of the opioid-based Hydrocodone at a pharmacy in Portsmouth, Ohio, June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

July 4 (Reuters) – Major U.S. drug distributors McKesson Corp (MCK.N), AmerisourceBergen Corp (ABC.N) and Cardinal Health Inc (CAH.N) aren’t accountable for fueling an opioid epidemic in part of West Virginia, a federal decide dominated on Monday.

U.S. District Judge David Faber rejected efforts by town of Huntington and Cabell County to pressure the nation’s three largest pharmaceutical distributors to pay $2.5 billion to handle a drug disaster prompted by a flood of addictive drugs in their area.

But following a months-long trial that ended final 12 months, Faber mentioned the businesses didn’t trigger any oversupply of opioids, saying medical doctors’ “good faith” prescribing choices drove the amount of painkillers they shipped to pharmacies.

While the businesses from 2006 to 2014 shipped 51.3 million opioid drugs to retail pharmacies in the communities, “there is nothing unreasonable about distributing controlled substances to fulfill legally written prescriptions,” Faber wrote.

“The opioid crisis has taken a considerable toll on the citizens of Cabell County and the city of Huntington,” he wrote. “And while there is a natural tendency to assign blame in such cases, they must be decided not based on sympathy, but on the facts and the law.”

Steve Williams, Huntington’s mayor, in a press release known as the choice “a blow to our city and community.” The metropolis had sought to pressure the businesses to assist fund opioid therapy packages.

The firms welcomed the ruling, which AmerisourceBergen mentioned struck down the notion that the distribution of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medication to licensed well being care suppliers may very well be deemed a public nuisance.

Cardinal Health and McKesson in separate statements mentioned the distributors had maintained programs to forestall the diversion of opioids to illicit channels.

More than 3,300 lawsuits have been filed, largely by state and native governments, looking for to carry these and different firms accountable for an opioid abuse epidemic linked to greater than 500,000 overdose deaths during the last 20 years.

The distributors, together with drugmaker Johnson & (J&J) (JNJ.N), final 12 months agreed to pay as much as $26 billion to resolve the hundreds of lawsuits introduced in opposition to them by state and native governments across the nation.

But communities in hard-hit West Virginia opted in opposition to becoming a member of a nationwide opioid settlement in favor of looking for a much bigger restoration. Another trial pitting the distributors in opposition to West Virginia communities begins Tuesday in state court docket.

Monday’s ruling provides to the combined file for opioid circumstances which have gone to trial nationally, with courts in Oklahoma and California final 12 months rejecting comparable claims in opposition to drugmakers like J&J.

A federal jury in November discovered pharmacy chain operators CVS Health Corp (CVS.N), Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA.O) and Walmart Inc (WMT.N) liable in a case filed by two Ohio counties. A New York jury discovered Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd liable in December in a case by the state and two counties.

Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Bill Berkrot and Kenneth Maxwell

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