With the rest of the country taking a chance to catch its breath after the announcement of a $26 billion settlement with some opioid firms, Huntington and Cabell County are standing firm as they prepare for closing arguments with opioid distributors this week.
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“We’re not fighting for the freedom of the press, we’re fighting to keep the press alive.” – Michael Fuller
Gupta, opioid distributors clash during cross-examination
“What we ended up with was a lot of pills sitting in medicine cabinets, and then they ended up in the community.”- Dr. Rahul Gupta, West Virginia’s former state health officer
If Everyone’s Guilty for the Opioid Crisis, Then Nobody Is
The defense seems to be counting on a classic pass-the-buck roundelay, with distributors pointing at doctors pointing at government regulators pointing at the victims, and round and round until everybody’s guilty so nobody is.
Data analyst says potency of opiates shipped increased over time; defense questions his credibility
The city of Huntington and Cabell County argued that the defendants — AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. — became culpable when 127.9 million opiate doses were sent to the county from 2006-14. When the number of shipped doses decreased around 2012, users were made to turn to illicit opiate drugs, like heroin, they said.
Rader testifies of first-hand experience with opioid epidemic
“This day has been a long time coming. This day is for all of those suffering from substance use disorder who have lost their lives or lost a loved one from this horrible disease,” Rader said.
Opioid trial: Gupta says West Virginia “ground zero” for epidemic
Former state Health Officer Dr. Rahul Gupta said during testimony Wednesday at the landmark opioid epidemic trial taking place in U.S. District Court in Charleston that he commissioned a report on overdose deaths in West Virginia to “learn from our dead so we could help the living.”
Witness testimony continues in landmark W.Va. opioid trial
In Cabell County alone, there have been about 1,100 opioid-related deaths and 7,000 overdoses in the past decade, county attorney Paul Farrell Jr. said Monday.
Brain can’t tell pills from heroin – W.Va. opioid lawsuit plaintiffs’ expert
Huntington and Cabell are seeking money to address the toll the opioid crisis has taken on their communities — estimated by one of their expert witnesses at $2.6 billion.
Witnesses explain eras of US opioid crises at third day of trial
At the questioning of Cabell County attorney Paul T. Farrell Jr., Courtwright said there have been four strong opioid epidemics in the United States: the opium and morphine epidemic in the 19th century; a heroin epidemic in the late 1940s and again in the late 1960s; and one created with significant increase in prescription opioids in the late 1990s.