New Mexico Legal professional Basic Hector Balderas, in his opening assertion, argued that the pharmacies had been speculated to act as a “dam” in opposition to a flood of illegitimate opioid prescriptions by refusing to fill prescriptions with “crimson flags” that signaled abuse.
“The defendants had a authorized obligation, I consider, to carry again the flood and shield New Mexicans from hurt,” he instructed Decide Francis Matthew, who’s presiding over the non-jury trial within the 1st Judicial Circuit of New Mexico in Santa Fe.
John Majors, a lawyer for Walmart who delivered a gap assertion in protection of all three firms, countered that pharmacists should train their “skilled judgment” moderately than counting on “mechanical utility of crimson flags.”
He mentioned that the state wouldn’t be capable of show that pharmacists “knowingly” crammed any illegitimate prescriptions.
The U.S. opioid epidemic has triggered greater than 500,000 overdose deaths over twenty years, in accordance with authorities information. Greater than 3,300 lawsuits have been filed, largely by native governments, accusing drugmakers, distributors and pharmacy chains of fueling the disaster.
Main drugmakers and distributors have collectively agreed to pay billions of {dollars} to settle opioid circumstances in opposition to them, however pharmacies have held out.
Solely two circumstances in opposition to pharmacies have been tried to a verdict.
One, introduced by two Ohio counties, resulted in a jury verdict in opposition to Walgreens, Walmart and CVS Well being Corp final 12 months, and a judgment of greater than $650 million final month.
The opposite, introduced by San Francisco in opposition to Walgreens, resulted in a choose holding the corporate liable final month, although no cash judgment has been determined.
Walgreens and CVS additionally settled mid-trial with Florida for $683 million and $484 million, respectively.
New Mexico sued the pharmacies in 2017, accusing them of making a public nuisance by failing to cease the diversion of opioids into unlawful channels. The state is searching for to make the pharmacies pay for anti-addiction packages to abate that nuisance.
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York, Enhancing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Invoice Berkrot)
By Brendan Pierson
