Table of Contents
NEW YORK– Ohio's top court ruled on Tuesday that pharmacy chain operators CVS, Walmart and Walgreens could not be held liable for fueling an opioid epidemic in two Ohio counties that won a $650.9-million judgment against them.
The Ohio Supreme Court held on a 5-2 vote, opens new tab that a state law barred Lake and Trumbull counties' claims that pharmacy chains' dispensing of addictive pain medications created a public nuisance that the companies should be forced to remediate.
Justice Joseph Deters, writing for the majority, noted the court recognized that the deadly epidemic had touched the lives of people throughout Ohio and "undoubtedly has far-reaching consequences for their communities and for the state as a whole."
"Creating a solution to this crisis out of whole cloth is, however, beyond this court's authority," Deters wrote.
He added that an amendment to the Ohio Products Liability Act that the state legislature adopted in 2007 barred all common-law public nuisance claims based on the sale of products that seek compensation from a product's manufacturer or supplier.
"This ruling will have a devastating impact on communities and their ability to police corporate misconduct," Peter Weinberger, a lawyer for the counties, said in a statement, adding that "our team will continue to fight for these counties through other legal avenues."
Representatives for CVS and Walgreens said they were pleased with the ruling. Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case was the first the three pharmacy operators had faced at trial of the thousands of lawsuits filed by states and local governments against drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies over the U.S. opioid addiction epidemic.
