Trial News

In the latest battle between local governments and the opioid industry, a jury has awarded Baltimore $266 million in damages from drug distributors McKesson and Cencora. The award is the largest individual recovery in the city’s history.

Attorneys representing the city successfully argued that the companies had contributed to a public nuisance that has plagued the city over the past two decades. Mayor Brandon Scott said the verdict comes “one step closer to addressing the harm inflicted on our community.” He stressed that, with the addition of this award, the city has now secured more than $668.5 million in restitution.

In conjunction with City Solicitor Ebony Thompson, who called the award a “monumental result,” Baltimore also retained outside counsel from New York City, including attorney Bill Carmody.

The city’s attorneys argued that, after making inroads during the early 2000s, Baltimore had to combat an upsurge in easy-to-find painkillers on the street, which led to new addictions and overdoses. Fentanyl, especially, had a devastating effect, contributing noticeably to the city’s overdose deaths.

Although many jurisdictions have brought suit against drug distributors and manufacturers, Baltimore is rare in having taken its case all the way to trial, as opposed to settling out of court. Attorney Burton LeBlanc of Baton Rouge, who has extensive experience bringing suit against opioid companies, commented on the risks both sides face in going to trial. “[T]he stakes are much higher,” LeBlanc said. The plaintiff [risks] spending many millions of dollars in discovery and expert costs, not to mention attorney time, while the defendants [risk] a potential ‘bet the company’ verdict carrying stock and borrowing implications. For this reason, most of the opioid cases have been settled at or before trial.”

Baltimore continues to suffer from the opioid epidemic. In the first half of 2024, it represented 44% of Maryland’s overdose deaths, according to the Baltimore City Health Department. Scott commented that the epidemic has “touched every [Baltimore] resident in some way,” with Thompson observing that more than 30,000 residents still live with opioid use disorder.

This outsized impact likely influenced the decision to bring the case to trial, where, according to LeBlanc, “additional factors such as the amount of harm incurred by the plaintiff… play a role in the ultimate analysis of trial versus settlement.”

Baltimore's battle with drug distributors and other members of the opioid supply chain is far from over. McKesson and Cencora have announced they intend to appeal. Baltimore will be seeking further compensation during the abatement stage of the suit, which the mayor’s office says will occur in December. If all continues to go well for the city at trial, it may receive substantially more in restitution, which would go toward ameliorating the damage caused by opioid use.