Weekly Mass Torts Bulletin 2022-Apr-04

A $ 55 million settlement has been rewarded to the Hamilton County area from the national opioid settlement, whereas Northern Kentucky counties might receive $20 million.

The Hamilton County area is set to receive the amount from next month, whereas the Northern Kentucky counties would require to wait slightly longer for the payout.

The settlement is intended to get rid of the effects of opioid addiction on the communities after millions of people became addicted to it due to the legal prescription of these painkillers after sports accidents, car crashes and long-term pain.

The money would be distributed in two waves, with the first in April or May and the second in July or August. The amount would be used for addiction treatment, prevention, education, and safety. The Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition has informed that they are creating a regional fund to determine the usage of the money.

Ohio was one of the first states in the country to reach a settlement and determine the allocation of funds between the cities, counties and the state. Hence, it will be among the first states to acquire the settlement amount.

The settlement would be a huge relief to the state of Ohio and Kentucky, as these two are the hardest-hit areas in the country.

The settlement amount would be disbursed by the three big drug distributors, namely Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson, who was responsible to monitor the opioid distribution and suspicious orders.

As per the estimates last year, approximately 454 people died in Hamilton County due to opioid overdose. The city witnessed 570 overdose deaths in 2017, whereas the numbers dipped to 487 in 2019 and 499 in 2020.

A lead negotiator in Texas' ongoing opioid multidistrict litigation (MDL), along with a committee of trial lawyers and the Office of the Texas Attorney General, has reached a $1.8 billion settlement for Texas.

As per the agreement, the local governments and the State of Texas will get a 1.775 billion cash award. The agreement also indicates funding for an intensive harm reduction program to deal with the ongoing opioid epidemic. The defendants are also required to pay an additional $75 million for the distribution of NARCAN® Nasal Spray, a life-saving drug that reverses the effect of an opioid overdose when administered in time.

Several drug companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Endo Pharmaceuticals, McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Teva Pharmaceuticals and AmerisourceBergen, who have been involved in the opioid supply chain, executed the settlements. Some of the settlements have already been executed, and others will be paid as per the agreed schedule. The money from the settlement would be used in to fund opioid-related issues.

15% of the funds would be allotted to individual cities and counties throughout Texas another 15% would go to the state of Texas. 70% of the settlement amount would be transferred to an abatement fund that is distributed through grant approval by the Texas Opioid Council and managed by the Texas State Comptroller's Office.

The negotiator in the settlement said that the Texans who are affected due to the opioid crisis would get immense help from the funds. It has even rightly punished the drug companies for their careless marketing and sales of the opioids that crated havoc in the state.

A military veteran has been awarded a $50 million settlement against 3M earplugs, alleging that the design is faulty that results in hearing hazards.

As per the lawsuit, the plaintiff suffered from hearing loss and tinnitus after using the company's Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 from 2006 to 2017. It is the second-largest settlement amount against the company in the series of lawsuits.

Plaintiffs' lawyers said that the company has already lost millions in lawsuits to date. The plaintiffs even quoted that the company did not provide adequate information about the earplugs, faked the tests of the products and hid the flaws in the design.

Whereas the spokesperson for 3M responded that they will appeal the decision as the company followed the mandates and military designs. The company's official person even said that there are issues in terms of legal defenses and evidentiary rulings in the earlier trials as well, and will continue to defend its product.

It is believed that 3M might use the Chapter 11 bankruptcy move to dodge the growing earplugs litigations. A similar strategy is used by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to get rid of the talcum lawsuits against its baby powder.

3M's earplugs are designed in such a way that it eliminates all the sound on the battlefield and provides selective hearing when used in a reversed manner.

Currently, 3M faces 280,000 lawsuits from active and former military members.

Bayer has filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court for a final review over a Roundup lawsuit that needs the company to pay a massive amount as a penalty.

The company appealed after a California state court jury favored the lymphoma-diagnosed couple by penalising Bayer to pay $55 million in compensatory damages along with $2 billion in punitive damages. The amount was later reduced to just under $87 million, which included $17 million in compensatory damages and $69 million in punitive damages. An appeals court is yet to review the $25 million judgment in a federal case that went to trial in March 2019.

The state appeals court in California upheld the verdict, and Bayer argued that the entire case should have been pre-empted by federal law as EPA authorized the sale of Roundup. The company has even asked to overturn punitive damages as they are excessive.

Bayer faces tens of thousands of Roundup lawsuits from former Roundup users with allegations that the regular use of the weedkiller resulted in causing lymphoma. The lawsuits even accuse the company of withholding information from the consumers that exposure to Roundup can have harmful consequences on health.

Bayer hopes that the ruling from Justices would halt new cases and end the litigation, but permission for review in a lawsuit from the U.S. Supreme Court is rare.