BALTIMORE — The Supreme Court of Maryland has overturned a Baltimore City Court's $266 million judgment against pharmaceutical companies over the alleged effects of opioid distribution.
On Friday the State's High Court ruled companies legally licensed and federally regulated to administer controlled substances cannot continuously be held liable for those abusing or misusing legally prescribed drugs.
Below is how the justices summed up the case, one they linked with Anne Arundel County.
"To recognize a general common law public right to be free from any potentially injurious harm associated with a lawfully licensed product being diverted, abused, or misused would permit nuisance liability to be imposed on an endless list of manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of manufactured products that are intended to be used lawfully, when such products are misused and cause injury."
While the decision protects at least two companies, McKesson Corp. and AmerisourceBergen, from having to payout the City, several others have already forked over more than $400 million to settles similar cases. Those companies include Walgreens, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Allergen, CVS and Johnson & Johnson.
Baltimore leaders have long accused Big Pharma of misconduct for their role in opioids distribution, which they claim "destroys communities."
The City issued a lengthy statement in response to the Supreme Court's order which reads in part;
"We vigorously disagree with its decision to leave local governments without recourse against corporations that put profits over people and destroy communities with their actions. While cities and counties in particular are often left to deal with the financial and societal effects of this misconduct, the state Supreme Court has determined that federal fines are sufficient to penalize these corporate bad actors. We do not agree with this conclusion."
The Supreme Court also ruled against Baltimore City last month, when they tried suing national oil companies over climate change damages.
Much like this decision, the court determined oil companies too are federally regulated and not subject to local jurisdiction.
