Closing Arguments Held In Opioid Civil Lawsuit

July 27, 2021 4:09 am

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Closing arguments have been held in West Virginia in a civil lawsuit that accuses three large drug distributors of fueling a local opioid crisis. The federal bench trial in the lawsuit filed by Cabell County and the city of Huntington against distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson began in early May. Cabell County attorney Paul Farrell says the companies sent a tsunami of pills into the region. The lawsuit says 81 million pills were distributed in a community of 100,000 residents. AmerisourceBergen attorney Bob Nicholas argued that the plaintiffs failed to show that the companies committed unreasonable conduct. The plaintiffs are seeking more than $2.5 billion.