CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An attorney representing the city of Huntington and Cabell County in their trial against three drug wholesalers said the legal team is reviewing the possibility of challenging a recent decision against the municipalities.
U.S. District Judge David Faber on Monday issued a judgment siding with AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp., stating Huntington and Cabell County could not successfully cite West Virginia’s public nuisance law regarding claims related to the opioid crisis. Attorneys for Huntington and Cabell County have argued the distribution of opioids created an epidemic and issues such as a rise in overdoses and higher crime rates.
Anthony Majestro said Wednesday his partners are reviewing Faber’s judgment to decide if they should pursue an appeal.
“It’s an almost 200-page opinion,” he said on “MetroNews Talkline.”
Majestro said attorneys with the drug companies made a persuasive argument the distributors did nothing wrong, and they were successful. Faber said in his judgment that most of the drugs shipped to Huntington and Cabell County were “determined by the good faith prescribing decisions of doctors in accordance with established medical standards.”
“We put a whole lot of money, a whole lot of time, a whole lot of heart and effort into it,” Majestro added.”We believed in our case then. We believe in our case now.”
Majestro said the decision to go with a bench trial rather than a jury trial was the right move.
“We don’t believe that there was a right to a jury trial in this case, that our sole claim was a claim of public nuisance, which is an equitable claim,” he explained.
“The other issue we had is when the case was set, we were in the middle of a COVID epidemic, and we could get a bench trial whereas waiting for a jury trial was uncertain.”
Majestro is also part of a legal team representing more than 60 West Virginia municipalities in a separate trial involving AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. Eric Eyre, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the opioid crisis, reported Tuesday that the distributors have agreed to pay $400 million to settle these lawsuits.
Majestro said he would not comment on any negotiations on a possible settlement.
“I’d say watch this space, and we’ll see how it turns out,” he added.