CHARLESTON — The Mass Litigation Panel granted a motion to expedite the trial of the state's cases against several pharmaceutical companies.
“This is a big win for the state and a huge step toward gaining justice for all those impacted by the opioid crisis,” Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said. “The defendants’ alleged actions have caused widespread harm to our state and its citizens. They must be held accountable.”
Attorney Charles "Rusty" Webb from the Webb Law Centre said the Supreme Court issued a significant ruling about a month ago and Morrisey then sent in the motion for the expedited trial.
Webb
"The attorney general deserves all of the credit for this," Webb said in an interview with The West Virginia Record.
The trial is now set for April 4, 2022, and a status conference is scheduled for Sept. 10.
Webb said throughout this, there are also several cases set for trial in November.
"There is a going to be a lot of activity going on," Webb said.
The panel also denied a motion by the defendants — Teva Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Endo Health Solutions — that would delay the cases any further.
The lawsuits were previously filed separately in Boone County. They will now be heard by the Mass Litigation Panel in Kanawha County. Boone County was where the initial lawsuit by the state was filed against the opioid manufacturers several years ago.
In the lawsuits, the state claims that the pharmaceutical companies failed to disclose the risks associated with opioids, such as addiction and they overstated the benefits of chronic opioid therapy. It alleges they also promoted higher dosages without explaining the risks of those higher dosages.
In the Johnson & Johnson case, the state alleged that Janssen Pharmaceuticals persuaded doctors that the opioids they had been unwilling to prescribe were more effective and safe enough for wide and long-term use.
In the Teva case, the state alleges that sales representatives for that manufacturer marketed the fentanyl-based opioid Actiq to non-oncologists and pain clinic doctors. The state argues that those representatives knew that the drug was for cancer patients.
In the third suit, the state claims that Endo rebranded Numorphan, which was widely abused in the 1960s, to keep up with the competition. Endo renamed the drug Opana and made it a different color.
In the lawsuits, the state alleges the pharmaceutical companies violated the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act and caused a public nuisance.
