Opioid trial finally starts next week, with Gupta’s testimony still being debated

All eyes are on the city of Huntington and Cabell County after a landmark trial, the first of its kind, started Monday in Charleston in a case the government filed against drug distributors they accuse of helping to fuel the drug epidemic.

The lawsuits, filed in March 2017, allege that AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. — dubbed the “Big Three” ahead of trial — hold some responsibility for the drug crisis after more than 80 million doses of opioid medication were sent to the area in an eight-year period.

The city and county are seeking damages and reimbursement for costs associated with past and future efforts to eliminate the hazard. They argue that the wholesalers failed to follow a duty under federal law to monitor, detect, investigate, refuse and report suspicious orders of prescription opiates in the county.

The civil trial is the first of its kind in a complex group that includes more than 2,000 plaintiffs with the same argument. Summit and Cuyahoga counties in Ohio settled for $215 million in 2019 on the eve of their trial against the same companies, but the rest of the cases were placed on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: View full article