CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Three drug distributors have been denied a request for summary judgment in a lawsuit filed in West Virginia by the city of Huntington and Cabell County over the opioid crisis.
U.S. District Judge David Faber on Wednesday rejected the companies’ attempt to dismiss the case. The trial is set to start May 3 in Charleston.
The lawsuit accuses drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson of fueling the local opioid epidemic.
“The repeated attempts by the Big Three distributors to delay their courtroom reckoning will not deter these communities from pursuing the resources they need now to combat the opioid crisis that has only worsened amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” plaintiffs attorneys Paul Farrell Jr. and Anne Kearse said in a statement.