COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – An Ohio Supreme Court ruling threatens a $650 million judgment two counties won from pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart for their role in creating an opioid epidemic.
The state’s highest court ruled last week that lawsuits in Ohio cannot claim pharmaceutical chains “caused a public nuisance” by selling opioids due to a state law called the Ohio Product Liability Act. The law aims to hold manufacturers responsible for harm that arises from flaws in their products.
Writing for the majority, Justice Joseph Deters said an amendment to act that was adopted in 2007 barred all public nuisance claims that arise from the sale of a product and seek compensation.
Deters was joined by Justices Sharon Kennedy, Patrick DeWine and Jennifer Brunner. Justices Melody Stewart and Michael Donnelly agreed with the majority in part but stated that the counties were not asking for compensatory damages but rather “equitable relief" and so the claim was not prohibited by the law.
The decision comes after Lake and Trumbull counties, both located in northeast Ohio near Cleveland, were awarded a $650 million judgment by a federal judge in 2022 over their allegations that pharmaceutical companies created and maintained an opioid epidemic in the region.
“The devastation experienced by these private citizens, individually and collectively, undoubtedly has far-reaching consequences for their communities and for the State as a whole,” Deters wrote. “Creating a solution to this crisis out of whole cloth is, however, beyond this court’s authority.”
After the judgment, the pharmacies appealed the decision, disputing the court's reading of the Ohio Product Liability Act and prompting the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court to ask the Ohio Supreme Court to review the matter. The companies argued the dispensing of opioids lies outside the scope of the law, which focuses on the design, manufacture, marketing and advertising of products.
Peter Weinberger, an attorney for the counties, said the court’s ruling is “not the end” and that his team would continue to fight through other legal avenues.
“This ruling will have a devastating impact on communities and their ability to police corporate misconduct,” Weinberger said in a statement. “We have used public nuisance claims across the country to obtain nearly $60 billion in opioid settlements, including nearly $1 billion in Ohio alone, and the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling undermines the very legal basis that drove this result.”
CVS and Walgreens said in a statement that they are “pleased” with the supreme court’s ruling. Walmart said it is proud of its pharmacists, who are dedicated to helping patients in the face of a "tangled web of conflicting federal and state opioid guidelines.”
“The Ohio Supreme Court is the latest court to correctly reject plaintiff-lawyers’ efforts to radically expand public nuisance law to sue companies over lawful products that are already regulated,” Walmart said in a statement.
In his 2022 ruling, U.S. District Judge Dan Polster said the money awarded to Lake and Trumbull counties would be used to fight the opioid epidemic. Lake County was set to receive $306 million over the course of 15 years and Trumbull $344 million over the same period.
A jury ruled in favor of the counties in 2021 after a six-week trial. Representation for the counties convinced the jury that CVS, Walgreens and Walmart played a large role in creating a public nuisance in the way they dispensed pain medication.
