A federal magistrate judge has recommended that a key lawsuit brought over the opioid epidemic go forward, refusing to dismiss the case against several opioid manufacturers and distributors, as well as pharmacies.
U.S. Magistrate Judge David Ruiz, who is working with U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in the opioid multidistrict litigation, which is in the Northern District of Ohio, issued his report and recommendation on Friday. The order keeps in place a consolidated complaint’s racketeering claims and rejected the idea that local governments, rather than addicted individuals, didn’t have standing to sue the defendant companies for conspiring through their marketing and distribution of the prescription painkillers, which have caused addictions and deaths throughout the country.
