When Oklahoma wrested a $270 million settlement last week from Purdue Pharma for its alleged role in fueling the opioid epidemic
[Fore more on that, read “To Avoid Bankruptcy, Purdue Pharma Said to Plead Guilty to Illegally Marketing Opioids”], the reverberations were felt about 1,400 miles away in Delaware County.
That’s where upward of 40 cases, including Philadelphia’s, are grouped together in a coordinated action against opioid makers and distributors, and where little progress has been made over the last 18 months.
[What about Bucks County? Read: “Bucks County sues drug manufacturers over opioid crisis"
More than a dozen counties are taking new steps to get out of Delco, and get on with litigation in their home counties, citing the cases’ lack of movement in the Delco courthouse.
“It’s my opinion that we are not getting a fair shake to get our cases to trial in a reasonable amount of time,” said lawyer Joseph Cappelli, who represents Bensalem township and 14 counties, largely in Western Pennsylvania. “The Oklahoma settlement," he added, “was the result of the plaintiffs in that case having an opportunity to push their case and get a trial date.”
Oklahoma’s attorney general is still barreling toward a May 28 trial for the remaining defendants in the lawsuit. About 1,600 opioid cases, consolidated in federal court in Cleveland, are heading for a bellwether trial set for October. The companies accused of downplaying the risk of addiction, including Purdue, and of failing to flag suspicious orders of painkillers, are vigorously defending against the claims.
At the state level, Cappelli filed a motion Monday in Delco court, asking to break up the proceedings on behalf of 13 counties.
One reason for the request, he said, is that Delaware County’s case isn’t there anymore. That suit — the first opioid case filed by a Pennsylvania county — brought all the others to Media, Pa. It has since been transferred to federal court.
Another reason: “Nothing is progressing," Cappelli said. “It would be more efficient to have each and every [case] … sent back to their counties for that litigation to go forward.”
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