Drug distributors face off against West Virginia in opioid trial

MASSACHUSETTS: The three largest U.S. drug distributors, who are accused of helping fuel the opioid crisis that has resulted in nearly 500,000 overdose deaths in the United States, will defend themselves in a trial that kicks off on Monday.

The trial against AmerisourceBergen Corp (ABC.N), McKesson Corp (MCK.N) and Cardinal Health Inc (CAH.N) in Charleston, West Virginia, involves a lawsuit seeking more than $1 billion brought by the city of Huntington and Cabell County. They claim the companies ignored red flags that opioids were being diverted to illegal channels, flooding the state with hundreds of millions of highly addictive pills.

The distributors have denied the claims, arguing they cannot be liable for distributing pills that were prescribed by doctors.