How much the pharmacies must pay in damages will be decided in the spring by a federal judge.
It was the first time pharmacy companies had completed a trial to defend themselves in a drug crisis that has killed a half-million Americans over the past two decades.
The counties were able to convince the jury that the pharmacies played an outsized role in creating a public nuisance in the way they dispensed pain medication into their communities.
“The law requires pharmacies to be diligent in dealing drugs. This case should be a wake-up call that failure will not be accepted,” said
“The jury sounded a bell that should be heard through all pharmacies in America,” Lanier said.
Attorneys for the three pharmacy chains maintained they had policies to stem the flow of pills when their pharmacists had any concerns and would notify authorities about suspicious orders from doctors. They also said it was the doctors who controlled how many pills were being prescribed for legitimate medical needs.
Spokespeople for
“As plaintiffs’ own experts testified, many factors have contributed to the opioid abuse issue, and solving this problem will require involvement from all stakeholders in our health care system and all members of our community," CVS spokesperson
Walgreen spokesperson
“As we have said throughout this process, we never manufactured or marketed opioids nor did we distribute them to the ‘pill mills’ and internet pharmacies that fueled this crisis,” Engerman said in a statement. “The plaintiffs’ attempt to resolve the opioid crisis with an unprecedented expansion of public nuisance law is misguided and unsustainable.”
Two other chains —
Lanier said during the trial that the pharmacies were attempting to blame everyone but themselves.
The opioid crisis has overwhelmed courts, social services agencies and law enforcement in Ohio’s blue-collar corner east of
Roughly 80 million prescription painkillers were dispensed in
In
The rise in physicians prescribing pain medications such as oxycodone and hydrocodone came at a time when medical groups began recognizing that patients have the right to be treated for pain,
The problem, he said, was that “pharmaceutical manufacturers tricked doctors into writing way too many pills.”
The counties said pharmacies should be the last line of defense to prevent the pills from getting into the wrong hands.
They didn’t hire enough pharmacists and technicians or train them to stop that from happening and failed to implement systems that could flag suspicious orders, Lanier said.
The trial before U.S. District Judge
So far, no pharmacy has reached a nationwide settlement.
“It’s a signal that the public, at least in select places, feels that there’s been exposure and needs to be remedied,” Roy said.
The committee of lawyers for the local governments suing the drug industry in federal courts called Tuesday’s verdict “a milestone victory."
“For decades, pharmacy chains have watched as the pills flowing out of their doors cause harm and failed to take action as required by law,” the plaintiffs’ executive committee said in a statement. “Instead, these companies responded by opening up more locations, flooding communities with pills, and facilitating the flow of opioids into an illegal, secondary market. The judgment today against Walmart,
The government claims against drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies hinge on state and local public nuisance laws.
Roy noted that courts have not been consistent on whether those laws apply to such cases. “There’s been a variety of different decisions lately that should give us reason to be cautious about what this really means in the grand scheme,” he said.
Two recent rulings have gone against the theory. And more cases are heading toward rulings.
Trials against drugmakers in
Earlier in November, a
Also in November, Oklahoma’s supreme court overturned a 2019 judgment for
Other lawsuits have resulted in big settlements or proposed settlements before trials were completed.
The jury’s decision in
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