Two Ohio counties reach settlement in opioid case with four drug companies News
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Two Ohio counties reach settlement in opioid case with four drug companies

Cuyahoga and Summit counties in Ohio reached a $260 million settlement with McKeeson Corp., AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and Teva Pharmaceuticals on Monday morning.

Summit County also settled with Henry Schein Medical for $1.25 million. An additional defendant, Walgreens, has not reached a settlement, but that case was postponed after the other defendants settled.

The settlements occurred only hours before the first trial of the National Prescription Opiate Litigation was scheduled to begin.

This settlement is only a small portion of the opiate cases filed nationwide. More than 2,000 lawsuits were consolidated into the National Prescription Opiate Litigation. The consolidated litigation was placed for trial in the Northern District of Ohio, and Judge Dan Polster will oversee the multidistrict litigation pre-trial process. Once the pretrial processes are complete, the trials will be heard in their original courts. The Northern District was chosen because it is geographically convenient for the defendants, the area has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic and Polster has experience overseeing multidistrict litigation.

Official statements regarding the settlement are expected soon.

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