“During the May trial for the City of Huntington and Cabell County, we will demonstrate how the defendants, alongside other companies in the supply chain, created this ongoing crisis. Drug distributors ignored their obligations under the Controlled Substance Act and actively pumped pills into American communities like Cabell County and Huntington,” Farrell said.
Judge: Health officials can testify at Huntington, Cabell opioid trial
A federal judge will allow testimony from eight local health officials who defendants accused of fueling the opioid epidemic had tried to block.
Seattle Times: David vs. Goliath: Small Publishers’ Battle Against Facebook and Google
“We’re not fighting for the freedom of the press, we’re fighting to keep the press alive,” lawyer Michael Fuller said.
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.
Coronavirus stalls long-awaited day in court for historic opioid lawsuit
Courts have hesitated to move to virtual settings, in large part because the scale of the opioid litigation — thought to be the most complex in U.S. history — makes it difficult to hold a trial by video conference. The city of Huntington and Cabell County in West Virginia, concerned that delays would continue as long as the virus was rampant, pushed to move the trial to a video option but didn’t succeed.
Trial in West Virginia opioid lawsuit postponed indefinitely
A federal judge in West Virginia has indefinitely postponed a trial date in a lawsuit filed by the city of Huntington and Cabell County over the opioid crisis.