Defendant opioid firms at the center of a trial in which they are accused of fueling the opioid crisis in Huntington and Cabell County expect to wrap up a month ahead of schedule.
End of opioid trial nears as defense attempts to tear apart plaintiffs’ foundation
As Huntington and Cabell County’s opioid trial against drug distributors nears its end, the defendants in the eighth week of the trial presented witnesses in an attempt to raze the foundation the plaintiffs built over seven weeks.
Drug distributors rest their case in West Virginia opioid trial
After only five days of testimony, lawyers representing the country’s three largest drug distributors rested their defense in the landmark opioid trial taking place in federal court in West Virginia.
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.
Judge declines to toss opioid lawsuit as trial set to start next month
Opioid distributors’ last-ditch effort to have a judge throw out Cabell County and Huntington’s claims against them for lack of standing was shot down Wednesday, about a month ahead of trial.
Small WV newspaper takes on Big Tech for monopolizing digital media
Charleston Gazette-Mail owner Doug Reynolds discusses the paper’s antitrust lawsuit against Facebook and Google.
Opioid distributors seek to dismiss Huntington, Cabell lawsuits again
Opioid distributors accused of helping to create and fuel the opioid crisis in the Huntington area asked a federal judge again Tuesday to dismiss the case against them ahead of a trial set for May.
West Virginia newspaper sues Facebook, Google for manipulating digital-advertising market
The owner of a West Virginia newspaper has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, and Facebook, claiming they are manipulating the digital advertising market and making it harder for newspapers to survive.
These local newspapers say Facebook and Google are killing them. Now they’re fighting back.
“There is no financial stake large enough,” to make up for what’s happened to the newspaper industry in the past two decades, said Farrell, the lead lawyer in HD Media’s suit against the tech giants. Nationwide, more than 2,000 local newspapers have shuttered since 2004; half of all newsroom jobs have been eliminated. That tragic trend has only accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic, just when the information they provide is most needed.
Google, Facebook hit with federal antitrust suit by West Virginia newspaper publisher
“The freedom of the press is not at stake; the press itself is at stake,” lawyers Paul T. Farrell Jr., Paul J. Geller and Clayton J. Fitzsimmons wrote for HD Media.