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800.277.1193Opening Arguments Given in First Week of New Mexico Opioid Trial
Opening arguments were given earlier this week (September 6, 2022) in the bench trial for the state of New Mexico’s opioid case against Walgreens, Walmart, and Kroger. The three pharmacy giants stand accused of recklessly dispensing opioids and, in so doing, facilitating the state’s opioid crisis. Together, the defendants are responsible for more than 50% of the opioid pills in New Mexico, according to New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, who opened the bench trial.
Teva to pay over $4 billion to communities in pending nationwide opioid settlement
The National Prescription Opiate Litigation Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee confirmed that they, alongside the working group of States’ Attorneys General, counsel for Native American Tribes and plaintiffs’ lawyers representing the States and local communities, have reached an agreement in principle with pharmaceutical manufacturer Teva on the primary financial terms of a nationwide opioid settlement. This agreement follows years of litigation naming Teva as a defendant responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic in America.
The Opioid Settlement: The Hardest-Hit Communities Might See Funds as Early as May
The opioid epidemic has killed hundreds of thousands of people and wounded an entire generation. But now there’s a glimmer of good news for U.S. communities crippled by the crisis that’s been cutting short lives, tearing apart families, and otherwise wreaking havoc for decades: Help is finally on the way.
Thousands of U.S. communities to receive opioid recovery funds from $26 billion global settlements as soon as May 2022
Washington, D.C. (February 25, 2022) – Today, the National Prescription Opiate Litigation Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee confirmed participation of over 90% of litigating local governments nationwide in the $26 billion global opioid settlements finalized with the “Big Three” drug distributors - AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson - and opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.
Overdose Deaths Surpass 1 Million After Decades-Long Opioid Epidemic
In 2021, drug overdose deaths surpassed one million since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began collecting data in 1999. According to the CDC, nearly 841,000 deaths were reported from 1999 to 2019, and nearly 170,000 deaths were reported for 2020 and 2021 combined.
Winning the War on Opioids: A Behind the Scenes Look at The Largest and Most Complex Deal In The History of Jurisprudence
In a deal the Washington Post called “the largest civil action in U.S. history,” the terms for the formal global settlement agreement with opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and the “Big Three” drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson were just announced.
DOJ Files Lawsuit Against Walmart Over Opioid Crisis
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a nationwide lawsuit against Walmart Inc. According to a civil complaint the DOJ filed, Walmart pharmacies across the country unlawfully dispensed controlled substances. At the height of the country’s prescription opioid crisis, Walmart unlawfully distributed such drug to their pharmacies, according to the complaint.
National Safety Council: Opioid Overdose Deaths Now Exceed Traffic Fatalities
For the first time in U.S. history, the risk of dying from an opioid overdose is greater than that of being killed in a traffic accident. Opioids also exceed slip and fall incidents, drowning, and fire as causes of unintentional deaths. Furthermore, only 13 states (including the District of Columbia) are making any progress in dealing with the crisis.
“Advocating for Addiction”: Purdue Pushed Doctors to Prescribe Opioids – and More
Opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma lost a legal battle in Tennessee recently when the state attorney general's office unsealed records of a lawsuit filed this past May. Those records, which lawyers for the drugmaker fought to keep secret, reveal that Purdue engaged in a wide variety of deceptive and duplicitous actions in order to increase sales of OxyContin (oxycodone).
Defendants in Opioid Litigation Must Produce Two Decades of Records, Court Rules
In a major victory for plaintiffs in the National Prescription Opiate Litigation (MDL #2804) this past week, the court ordered that defendants must provide records dating back to 1995.