Baltimore wins $266M verdict against drug distributors over opioid crisis

Source: Scripps News

Posted 4:37 PM, Nov 12, 2024


A Baltimore jury on Tuesday awarded the City of Baltimore $266 million in damages after finding two pharmaceutical distribution companies, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, liable for contributing to the city’s opioid epidemic.

"A jury agreed that the outsized impact on our city was a direct result of the actions of big pharma," Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said following the ruling. " The Baltimore Sun reports that the jury verdict was the culmination of a trial lasting more than six weeks.

While the city placed much of the blame on the distributors, lawyers for the companies insisted that cartels and gangs were responsible for the opioid epidemic. The Baltimore Sun also reports that defense attorneys attributed blame to doctors who increasingly wrote prescriptions for painkillers.

However, the jury still found the companies liable for their role in the epidemic.

Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news/baltimore-wins-266m-verdict-against-drug-distributors-over-opioid-crisis