To settle the ongoing legal battle over the opioid overdose crisis, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) announced a $20.4 million deal with Cuyahoga and Summit counties. According to the deal, J&J will pay the counties $10 million in cash, reimburse $5 million for legal costs, and put $5.4 million toward opioid-related nonprofit programs. J&J has agreed to settle without admission of liability.
J&J decided to settle just days before it was to face a bellwether trial, scheduled for October 21, against Cuyahoga and Summit counties along with other opioid manufacturers and distributors named as defendants.
Allergan and Endo, two other opioid drugmakers, have already settled claims with the counties just days after OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, announced it was declaring bankruptcy due to opioid crisis litigation costs. Cuyahoga and Summit counties still have claims against AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, Teva Pharmaceuticals, McKesson Corp. and Henry Schein Inc.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over more than 1,900 opioid lawsuits consolidated under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation), centralized by JPML last year, in the Northern District of Ohio, to aid coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.
Earlier on September 14, attorneys representing drug manufacturers and distributors filed a motion for the disqualification of US District Judge Dan Polster from opioid litigation hearings.
The companies claimed that the judge has been biased against them during the trials over the past 21 months. Two groups of defendants include the retailers Walgreens, Walmart, Rite Aid, and CVS, and the drug distribution companies Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson who filed the motion. The motion comes before a critical hearing that has been scheduled for September 23, in Cleveland before Judge Polster.
A lead lawyer for the plaintiffs believes that the defendants are trying to delay the trials by appealing for such a motion. A law professor expert even stated that the move could result in the new federal judge issuing the litigation in the defendants' favour.
Meanwhile, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, failing to resist the pressure from more than 2,600 lawsuits that allege the company fueled the opioid epidemic.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over more than 1,900 opioid lawsuits merged under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation).
