On Tuesday, a Texas Judge announced that the Opioid lawsuits brought by Dallas and Bexar Counties in the state consolidated MDL, alleging that the opioid makers and distributors made false and misleading statements about drugs, will face their first trials in October 2020. The announcement followed a decision on Friday by Judge Robert Schaffer, who is overseeing the MDL in Texas that Dallas’ lawsuits will be the first bellwether to go to trial.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff stated that the trial date is a major milestone in litigation and Bexar County will become the site for the first wave of trials in the MDL. The judge also stated that Bexar County was the first in the area to have recognized this epidemic and has been a leader in developing a task force to tackle this problem.
According to a statement by counsel Martin J. Phipps of Phipps Deacon Purnell PLLC, Bexar County is seeking $1B in damages, a conservative estimate of the costs borne by taxpayers. Phipps also stated that the pharmaceutical companies mislead patients, regulators, and physicians about the risks and benefits of opioids to treat pain.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over all opioid lawsuits consolidated under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation).
