A federal judge in Ohio granted the U.S. Department of Justice’s request to halt discovery in a set of leading lawsuits over the opioid epidemic due to the partial government shutdown, but allowed discovery to go forward in two more bellwether cases.
In a Dec. 26 motion, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynne Buck, in Cleveland, sought to stay discovery for 14 days in cases alleging that defendant companies were responsible for an epidemic of addictions and overdoses across the country tied to the prescription painkillers. U.S. District Dan Polster granted the motion the following day, but on Monday added two more bellwether cases to a small subset of lawsuits in which he has allowed limited discovery.
