The city of Baltimore’s high-stakes lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors is facing a major test in court this week that will decide whether the case goes to a jury. Baltimore City Circuit Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill heard arguments Monday on whether he should throw out the lawsuit because, the drug companies argue, the city has not provided enough evidence to show they are responsible for the harms of the opioid crisis. The city, on the other hand, claims the companies when they marketed the pills to doctors and sent huge orders of opioids into the city.
More than 650 million prescription opioids flooded Baltimore city and county between 2006 and 2019, according to a Washington Post database of prescription drug transactions. Baltimore’s lawsuit alleges that the surge of painkillers reversed the city’s progress in reducing heroin overdoses and created a far worse opioid problem that led to . As part of the lawsuit, the city is seeking nearly $12 billion in damages and abatement costs, which would go toward drug treatment and other remediation efforts.
The opioid companies, which include CVS, Walgreens, Johnson & Johnson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen (now known as Cencora), Teva and McKesson, say the lawsuit should be thrown out before it can reach a jury. If the city prevails, a 12-week trial is set to begin in September. The lawsuit centers on a public nuisance claim, or the argument that drug companies interfered with public health by distribut.