CVS, Walgreens, Walmart set for closing arguments in Ohio opioid trial

[November 15, 2021]  By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) - A jury is set to hear closing arguments on Monday in a trial in federal court in Cleveland focused on claims by two counties in Ohio that three major retail pharmacy chains - CVS, Walgreens and Walmart - fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic by failing to stop addictive painkilling pills from reaching the black market.

The arguments will cap off a trial in a lawsuit by Lake and Trumbull counties accusing CVS Health Corp, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and Walmart Inc of bearing responsibility for the deadly effects of the epidemic in those communities.

The counties accused the companies of creating a "public nuisance" and seek to force them to pay to address the epidemic's devastation. Plaintiff lawyers have said those costs are potentially $1 billion for each of the counties.

The trial is the first that the pharmacy operators have faced in lawsuits by states and local governments seeking to hold them liable for an epidemic that, according to U.S. health officials, has led to nearly 500,000 deaths from opioid overdoses in the past two decades.

The counties accused the pharmacies of failing to prevent excessive amounts of opioid pills from flooding their communities, identify "red flags" of misuse or properly train pharmacists to avert the diversion of pain pills for drug abuse.

The companies have denied wrongdoing and have said the blame falls on others including doctors and government regulators.

Should the jurors find that the pharmacies created a public nuisance, U.S. District Judge Dan Polster would decide how much they owe to abate, or address, it.

The combination photo shows a logo of CVS in Manhattan, New York, U.S., August 1, 2016, re-usable Walmart bags in a newly opened Walmart Neighborhood Market in Chicago September 21, 2011 and a Walgreens sign in the Chicago suburb of Niles, Illinois, February 10, 2015. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/Jim Young/File Photo

Regional pharmacy operator Giant Eagle, originally named as a defendant in the lawsuit, reached a settlement with the counties during the trial. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Ohio trial follows recent setbacks for plaintiffs pursuing some of the 3,300 opioid cases filed against drug manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies.

Oklahoma's top court on Tuesday overturned a $465 million judgment against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, and a California judge this month ruled in favor of four drugmakers in a case brought by several large counties.

Those lawsuits also accused the companies of creating a public nuisance. A similar lawsuit by Washington state against three drug distributors heads to trial on Monday.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham and Noeleen Walder)

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