Ohio’s top state court rules that opioid suits cannot be based on the nuisance law, resulting in a $650M victory for pharmacies
Tort Law
Opioid suits can’t be based on nuisance law in Ohio, top state court rules in $650M win for pharmacies
December 12, 2024, 3:23 pm CST
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A decision by the Ohio Supreme Court on the state’s product-liability law is good news for three national pharmaceutical chains ordered to pay more than $650 million for contributing to the opioid epidemic.
The state supreme court ruled Dec. 10 that the Ohio Product Liability Act eliminated all common-law nuisance claims in connection with the sale of products, Court News Ohio reports. The state supreme Court ruled after the U.S. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals at Cincinnati requested a ruling regarding the impact of the amended state law.
The 6th Circuit referred the question to Ohio Supreme Court as part of an appeal of a $650.6-million judgment against CVS Walmart and Walgreens. The lawsuit was one of several bellwethers used to test defenses and claims chosen from 3,000 opioid cases consolidated in the U.S. District Court of Northern District of Ohio. The law did not bar their claims as a result.
The Ohio Supreme Court, however, ruled that the type relief requested under the law is immaterial. Bloomberg Law reports that the three drug companies were pleased with the ruling. Walgreens said in a statement the decision “allows us to put this litigation behind us so we can continue focusing on the health and well-being of our patients, customers and team members in northern Ohio and across the country.”
Peter H. Weinberger represented the plaintiffs–Lake County and Trumbull County in Ohio. He told Bloomberg Law that the decision “will have a devastating impact on communities and their ability to police corporate misconduct.”
Nationwide, he said, opioid settlements with drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies total nearly $60 billion. Weinberger, a Bloomberg Law reporter, said that the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling “undermines even the legal basis for this result.”
The Ohio Supreme Court was the second state court to rule against the use of public-nuisance laws in opioid lawsuits.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in November 2021 Johnson & Johnson marketing opioids did not create a nuisance because they were selling a legal product.
The Ohio Supreme Court has been the second state court to make that The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in November 2021 that Johnson & Johnson’s opioid marketing did not create a public nuisance because it concerned the sale of a lawful product.
