Tennessee DAs set to move opioid manufacturer lawsuit toward trial after state Supreme Court ruling

February 25, 2020 at 8:14 p.m. | Updated February 26, 2020 at 2:30 a.m.

by Andy Sher

FILE - In this July 20, 2007, file photo, Ed Bisch, left, and other demonstrators march along Main Street in Abingdon, Va., to raise awareness about the abuse of OxyContin. Some of the money in Purdue Pharma's proposed multibillion-dollar opioid settlement would come from the continued sale of opioids. "It's disgraceful," said Ed Bisch, who was among the first parents to take on Purdue. His son died of an OxyContin overdose at 18 in 2001. "If they keep on selling OxyContin, there's going to be more and more accidental addicts." (David Crigger/Bristol Herald Courier via AP, File)
FILE - In this July 20, 2007, file photo, Ed Bisch, left, and other demonstrators march along Main Street in Abingdon, Va., to raise awareness about the abuse of OxyContin. Some of the money in Purdue Pharma's proposed multibillion-dollar opioid settlement would come from the continued sale of opioids. "It's disgraceful," said Ed Bisch, who was among the first parents to take on Purdue. His son died of an OxyContin overdose at 18 in 2001. "If they keep on selling OxyContin, there's going to be more and more accidental addicts." (David Crigger/Bristol Herald Courier via AP, File)

NASHVILLE - A coalition of Tennessee prosecutors suing national opioid manufacturers says its case is again moving forward after the state Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear companies' appeal in the Interstate 75 corridor opioid lawsuit.

Prosecutors, including Tenth District Attorney General Stephen Crump of Cleveland, said in a news release the court's action preserves a previous finding by the state Court of Appeals that the case should move forward. The latest action affirms the legal theories underpinning their suit, prosecutors said.

Now the district attorneys general plan to press for setting a trial date in coming months.

"This is a significant milestone in this case and yet another confirmation of our cause," said Jared Effler, district attorney general for Tennessee's Eighth Judicial District. "For more than two years, these companies have been trying to delay and derail this litigation so that they do not have to confront the obvious results of their predatory business practices."

Effler said prosecutors "are determined to hold them accountable for the harm they have caused and return any financial settlement to the Tennessee cities and counties where the damage has been done."

The I-75 corridor lawsuit was initially filed in 2017 in Campbell County Circuit Court in Jacksboro by the district attorneys general of Tennessee's Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Judicial Districts, and later amended to also include the Fourth Judicial District.

Their complaint singles out prescription opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma L.P. and its related companies, along with Mallinckrodt, Endo Health Solutions and its wholly owned subsidiary, Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Teva Pharmaceuticals.

The lawsuit also names two additional plaintiffs, known collectively as Baby Doe, by and through their guardians acting on their behalf. Additional defendants named in the filing include the now-dissolved Tennessee Pain Institute, two former TPI employees and a convicted drug dealer.

Claims against Purdue Pharma are being pursued in bankruptcy court.

Local prosecutors have pushed the case despite being opposed at times by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery, who is part of a group of state attorneys general pressing for a global settlement with drug manufacturers.

Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.

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