A federal appeals court has ordered plaintiffs attorneys and the judge overseeing 2,000 lawsuits over the opioid crisis to respond to the state of Ohio’s request to halt a critical trial next month.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ordered lead plaintiffs attorneys and U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who is overseeing the multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of Ohio, to respond to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s petition for writ of mandamus seeking to halt the Oct. 21 trial. Yost filed the petition to dismiss or delay the trial, arguing that Summit and Cuyahoga counties, the two plaintiffs, have no legal authority to pursue opioid claims on behalf of the state’s residents.
