Charles Earp will not be taking the witness stand during Huntington and Cabell County’s historic trial against the three largest drug distributors. However, he does join the hundreds of parents who were witnesses to their children going through addiction, and he eventually got the dreaded call that his son had fatally overdosed.
US trial opens against companies accused of stoking opioid crisis
“It is fitting that the trial will proceed in West Virginia, which has been ground zero of the opioid epidemic,” the plaintiff’s lawyers, Paul Farrell and Anne McGinness Kearse, said in a statement.
West Virginia seeks justice for opioid crisis as trial begins
The lawsuit accuses the firms of working with “pill mill” doctors and pharmacists who were willing to give opioids to anyone who paid – a breach of laws that require distributors to stop and report any suspicious sales.
Science of opioid use disorder broken down at second day of trial
A Charleston courtroom morphed into a chemistry class Tuesday as a witness in a landmark opioid crisis trial broke down opioids to their molecules and explained how opioid use disorder takes hold of drug users.
Landmark trial over the opioid crisis is set to start next week at ground zero
The landmark trial in West Virginia against drug distributors known as the “Big Three” — AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson — comes after an 11th-hour settlement averted an Ohio trial in October 2019 and coronavirus-related delays stalled opioid cases across the country
Landmark Opioid Trial Opens in West Virginia
“We intend to prove the simple truth that the distributor defendants sold a mountain of opioid pills into our community, fueling a modern opioid epidemic,” said Paul Farrell, an attorney for Cabell County, in a 90-minute opening statement in federal court in the state capital.
They flooded WV with painkillers. Now they’re pointing fingers as landmark opioid trial begins
Paul Farrell Jr., a lawyer for Cabell County, laid out the pillars of the county’s and city’s case. He said his team will prove that the three companies sold a mountain of pills that fueled the opioid epidemic, pressing on despite “black flags” that should have caused them to take notice and reevaluate their approach to sales.
Big three drug distributors blame doctors, regulators in trial over opioid epidemic
“We intend to prove the simple truth that the distributor defendants sold a mountain of opioid pills into our community, fueling the opioid epidemic,” Paul Farrell, a lawyer for Cabell County, said in his opening statement in Charleston, West Virginia federal court.
As W.Va. drug overdose deaths increase, Huntington, Cabell County first in country to face distributors in courtroom
The cases, initially filed by Huntington native Paul T. Farrell Jr., seek damages and reimbursement for costs associated with past and future efforts to eliminate the hazard. The wholesalers had a duty to monitor, detect, investigate, refuse and report suspicious orders of prescription opiates originating from Cabell County and failed to do so, it said.
Here’s what to know about a WV community’s effort to hold opioid distributors accountable
“After facing this crisis head on for far too long, our day in court is finally here,” said Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, who is expected to testify in the case brought against the distributors by the City of Huntington and the Cabell County Commission.