HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — An Ohio federal judge is making some decisions that could soon release the Cabell-Huntington opioid case back to U.S. District Court in Southern West Virginia for trial.
Charleston attorney Rusty Webb, one of the attorneys who represents Huntington in the lawsuit against opioid distributors, said Wednesday U.S. District Judge Dan Polster started to release several cases to their home jurisdictions earlier this week.
“He’s going to release three cases, the City of San Francisco, the City of Chicago and the Cherokee Indian Tribe to their respective jurisdictions to try cases against particular defendants,” Webb said during an appearance on the show 580 Live on MetroNews affiliate 580 WCHS in Charleston Wednesday. “He (Judge Polster) also said he is on the verge of releasing the Cabell-Huntington case.”
Polster said he still has to make a few pretrial rulings in that case, according to Webb.
“He needs to wrap up some motions and make some rulings before he does that. He’s indicated that after he does that he’s going to release Huntington-Cabell,” Webb said.
That could set-up the trial for some time next year.
The plaintiffs generally allege the nation’s top drug companies acted improperly by shipping millions of pills to various communities, knowing their addictive nature, and thus fueling the opioid crisis.
Webb also said Wednesday Polster has decided to limit the defendants that the jurisdictions can target in their trials. Webb said that may be setting up a better chance for a universal settlement after a few of the cases go to trial.
“I think his (Judge Polster’s) position is you can resolve all of the cases once you determine the liability of each of the types of defendants like manufacturers, distributors, pharmacists, etc.,” Webb said.
The Cabell-Huntington case will be focused on opioid distributors McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health.
A settlement was announced last month involving two counties in Ohio with the three distributors mentioned above as well as manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals. The announcement came before the trial was set to begin in a federal courtroom in Cleveland. There was an effort to settle the other cases then, including many involving West Virginia municipalities and counties, but the plaintiffs have made it clear they want their cases heard in trial.
Huntington attorney Paul Farrell, one of the leading attorneys for the plaintiffs said on MetroNews “Talkline” following the October settlement the communities deserve their day in court.
“I want the world to understand what they did to our hometown and what the long-term consequences are. This is not something they can run from,” Farrell said.
Huntington Mayor Steve Williams also said last month that he was opposed to a settlement.