Defense attorneys tried to find holes in assertions by the plaintiffs and their witnesses as two-day closing arguments wrapped up in the bench trial of a lawsuit against distributors
In a state that has had the nation’s highest fatal opioid overdose rate,
Some 81 million pills were sent to the community of about 100,000 along the
The companies have placed the responsibility on doctors writing prescriptions and say poor communication and pill quotas set by federal agents also were to blame.
“None of the evidence shows Cardinal Health’s conduct was unreasonable,” Mainigi said. “There’s no witness that has given the court a basis to find that we were a direct cause.”
She also said distributors are not responsible for the diversion of pills from patients into others' hands, whether that medication is sold, stolen or given away.
“That's a crime," she said. “And Cardinal Health can’t stop any of that from happening.”
According to testimony, there were nearly 6,500 overdoses in
Like Mainigi, McKesson attorney
“McKesson did not distribute 81 million pills,” Hester said.
He said higher pill volumes in the county were driven by an increase in prescriptions, and he echoed Mainigi in saying the plaintiffs’ claim of harm was caused by pill diversion. However, no evidence was given by the plaintiffs that pills were diverted from
“The key players who contributed to this volume of prescription opioids are not parties here," including doctors, drug dealers, pill manufacturers, pharmacies and three pill distributors in the area who are bigger than McKesson but are not part of the case, Hester said.
Plaintiff attorney
"They should just be in delivery trucks," Farrell said.
Farrell said the distributors had a duty to block larger orders that were deemed suspicious. “If the number of pills that came into
“We had 81 million pills,” Farrell said. “And it wasn’t by accident.”
Similar lawsuits have resulted in multimillion-dollar settlements, but this is the first time allegations have wound up at federal trial. The result could have huge effects on similar lawsuits that have been filed across the country.
Last week, lawyers for state and local governments announced a potential
In separate, similar lawsuits, the state of
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