Two pharmaceutical giants were ordered to pay $266 million to the city of Baltimore after a jury found them responsible for fueling the opioid crisis, a nationwide epidemic of addiction that kills tens of thousands of Americans each year.

A jury found Texas-based healthcare products company McKesson liable for $192 million in damages and Pennsylvania-based drug wholesaler Cencora for $74 million.

Baltimore accused the companies of failing to report “suspicious orders” of prescription drugs like oxycodone and hydrocodone to federal authorities, which subsequently contributed to the city’s opioid epidemic. Next month, the city will ask Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill for $9 billion from the companies in abatement to pay for opioid crisis solutions.

Mayor Brandon Scott applauded the verdict, saying the jury agreed that the “outsized impact on our city was a direct result of big pharmaceutical companies.”

“The opioid overdose epidemic has hit every community in this country, but in Baltimore it has touched every resident in some way, devastating entire families and entire neighborhoods.” Scott said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 81,000 people in the US died from opioid overdose deaths in 2023, down about 3% from the previous year. In Baltimore alone, state data found an average of 866 people suffered opioid-related deaths every year from 2017 to 2021.

The 2018 lawsuit accuses companies of fueling the opioid crisis

Susman Godfrey, the law firm representing Baltimore, said this week’s jury decision is first successful judgment has reached any jurisdiction in opioid litigation against McKesson and Cencora. It comes nearly seven years after Baltimore filed its lawsuit against more than a dozen drug manufacturers, wholesalers and prescribers for their alleged role in the opioid epidemic.

“Justice was served,” said Bill Carmody, Baltimore’s lead attorney and partner at Susman Godfrey. “No city in America has been hit harder by the opioid epidemic than Baltimore and the jury’s verdict is an important step in helping Baltimore recover to continue to be one of the best cities in America in a place where all of its citizens can be healthy and succeed. “

Baltimore opted out of a national settlement with drug companies on opioid addiction to pursue their own litigation for larger payouts. The city said it has since won more than $400 million in settlements with other companies, including CVS, Walgreens, Johnson & Johnson, Cardinal Health, Allergan and Teva.

The lawsuits accused McKesson and Cencora, formerly AmerisourceBergen, as well as Cardinal Health of failing to identify and report suspicious opioid orders as they are required to do under federal law, which led to “dangerous amounts” of opioids flooding Baltimore and other communities across the country. USA

“The City now seeks to hold defendants accountable for their roles in the epidemic, including by requiring contributions for the expensive solutions necessary to alleviate the ongoing crisis,” the 2018 complaint said.

The complaint noted that McKesson has previously admitted it had not been reported some suspected drug orders in a settlement with the Justice Department in 2017. The company agreed to pay $150 million and suspending the sale of controlled substances from distribution centers in Colorado, Ohio, Michigan and Florida.

The Justice Department also filed one lawsuit against Cencora in December 2022. Federal prosecutors accused the company of failing to report hundreds of thousands of suspicious orders to the Drug Enforcement Administration, saying the company knew they were “likely facilitating the diversion of prescription opioids.” The trial is ongoing.

After Tuesday’s jury decision in Baltimore, both companies said they were preparing to appeal the verdict.

Mike Iorfino, a spokesperson for Cencora, told USA TODAY that the ruling “further violates the legal and ethical tightrope the company is asked to walk between providing access to needed medications and acting to prevent the diversion of controlled substances.”

“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict, which we believe does not reflect the facts of the case,” Iorfino said. “Our teams are analyzing the ruling and evaluating all options moving forward, including appealing today’s ruling.”

A spokesperson for McKesson told USA TODAY that the company was prepared to file motions challenging the ruling and appeal if denied.

“We respect but disagree with the jury’s verdict, which fundamentally misunderstands McKesson’s limited role as a pharmaceutical distributor,” the spokesperson said.

“Game-Changing Figure”

The mayor said this week’s court order brings Baltimore’s total restitution funds to more than $668.5 million, a “game-changing number” in dealing with the opioid crisis. The city have said the money will be used to fund addiction prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction programs and services.

Baltimore makes up 9% of Maryland’s population but represents 44% of the state’s overdose deaths, according to the Baltimore City Health Department. Overall, Baltimore averages more than two overdose deaths a day. The department also noted that an estimated 80% of the city’s opioid use disorder cases between 2010 and 2021 began with prescription opioids, before residents turned to illicit drugs.

About 125 million prescriptions for opioids were dispensed in 2023 across the United States, According to the CDCwith “wide variation” between states. The agency noted nearly 8.6 million Americans as young as 12 years old reported abusing prescription opioids.

This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Drug companies pay Baltimore $266 in opioid epidemic lawsuit