Appeals judges revive West Virginia’s claims over large opioid shipment
A federal appeals court has reopened a major legal battle over how prescription pain relievers were shipped to parts of West Virginia, putting the nation’s largest drug distributors in the spotlight. The case, worth $2.5 billion, is based on the long-running opioid crisis in Cabell County and the city of Huntington. Both communities have struggled with deep poverty and some of the highest mortality rates in the nation. Local officials have argued for years that huge shipments of powerful painkillers helped drive families into addiction, strain public services and cause lasting damage across the region.
A lower court ruled in 2022 that McKesson, Cardinal Health, and Amerisource-Bridgen — now called Sencora — were not legally responsible for the widespread harm associated with the flow of prescription opioids. That judge ruled that the companies had followed the rules at the time and that their role did not qualify as a public nuisance under state law. This victory has now been set aside. A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said the earlier ruling was misread by West Virginia legal standards. The panel found that flooding a community with addictive drugs could, in fact, meet the definition of a public nuisance if it created dangerous conditions that affected the entire area.
The decision is a major reversal for Cabell County officials, who had argued that the companies shipped too many pills out of the region. That pattern made it easier for pain relievers to be misused or sold illegally, he said. The appellate judges agreed that the heavy distribution effects could create the kind of widespread harm that public nuisance statutes are intended to address. The panel noted that entire neighborhoods felt the consequences as overdoses increased and local agencies were pushed to the brink.
In the United States, prescription opioids have been linked to more than half a million deaths over the past twenty years. Families, towns, and states spent huge sums to deal with addiction, long-term disability, and emergency care related to pain medication. More than 4,000 lawsuits were filed by governments and other groups seeking to recover costs. These initiatives increased settlements and judgments by more than $50 billion. West Virginia was among the hardest hit, with Cabell County recording a higher than national rate of drug overdoses for the years involved in the lawsuit.
Although most states agreed to a nationwide settlement with major distributors in 2021, West Virginia chose not to join. State leaders said the deal did not reflect the level of damage experienced in their cities or the resources needed for treatment and recovery programs. He maintained that local governments still faced with high rates needed more direct support. The state recorded 770 overdose deaths in the twelve months ending in April this year, down 39 percent from the previous year but still a huge strain on families and first responders.
The Fourth Circuit’s move sends the West Virginia opioid case back to the trial court for further proceedings. The panel overturned a judge who had found that the companies did not fail in their duty to monitor suspicious orders or establish appropriate controls that could limit the risk of drugs being diverted to illegal markets. Now with the ruling upheld, local governments will have another chance to present evidence that they believe shows a pattern of lapses in monitoring and shipments far in excess of medical necessity.
A Sencora spokesman said the company is disappointed by the decision and plans to review its options. The company noted that those options could include asking for further appellate review. McKesson and Cardinal Health have not yet released public comments about the decision. The next steps will determine whether the West Virginia opioid case proceeds to a new trial or moves to settlement negotiations, a process that could reshape how liability is assigned in one of the nation’s most troubled public health cases.
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Opioid distributors face $2.5 billion in lawsuits after ruling
US appeals court reinstates $2.5 billion opioid lawsuit in West Virginia
