Opioid Trial In West Virginia Comes Amid A National Reckoning For Big Pharma

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/ [login to see] /opioid-trial-in-west-virginia-comes-amid-national-reckoning-for-big-pharma
During years when the prescription opioid epidemic was spiraling out of control, corporate executives at the drug wholesaler McKesson sent at least two memos ordering employees to "refrain from using the word 'suspicious'" to describe escalating opioid orders from pharmacy chains.

The documents were disclosed this week as part of a landmark federal opioid trial now underway in West Virginia, one of the states hit hardest by opioid deaths.

The case focuses on claims by local officials in Cabell County and the city of Huntington. They say their community of roughly 90,000 residents was devastated by tens of millions of prescription opioid pills shipped to local pharmacies.

The trial's outcome is expected to establish whether drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson face liability nationwide for their alleged failure to curb the flow of prescription painkillers that were allegedly later abused.