Settlement Developments On October 21, 2019, drug distributors AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. and manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. reached an approximately $260 million settlement with Summit and Cuyahoga counties in Ohio, avoiding what was poised to be a bellwether trial in the multi-district litigation ("MDL") arising out of the opioid crisis. The settlement money will be used to fund addiction treatment and prevention programs. The defendants did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.41
The agreement between three of the nation's largest distributors and the manufacturer does not end the National Prescription Opiate Litigation that involves thousands of actions brought by cities, counties and American Indian tribes against companies connected to the production, distribution and marketing of opioids.
As trial approached, there were reports of a nearly $50 billion settlement for global resolution of the thousands of suits encompassing the MDL and those filed by various states. Rumors have surfaced that disputes over potentially massive attorney's fees have thwarted these talks.
Ohio's Attorney General David Yost has been a vocal critic of the cases, arguing that plaintiffs' counsel could recoup funds that would be better used to combat the opioid epidemic. Yost also asked the Sixth Circuit to stay the bellwether trial, claiming that the plaintiff municipalities were encroaching on the state's authority to guard the public welfare. The Sixth Circuit rejected that request less than two weeks before the trial's scheduled October 21, 2019 start.42
The parties expect that future bellwether trials in certain of the more than 2,000 suits in the MDL will be scheduled for the first quarter of 2020. These cases may now be less likely to see trial in light of the recent settlements.
Footnotes
41 See Sara Randazzo, Last-Minute Opioid Deal Could Open Door to Bigger Settlement, Wall St. J. (Oct. 21, 2019), https://www.wsj.com/articles/four-drug-companiesreach-last-minute-settlement-in-opioid-litigation-11571658212.
42 See Order, In re: State of Ohio, No. 19-3827 (6th Cir. Oct. 10, 2019), ECF No. 32-1.
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