Friday, September 13, 2019

Opioid lawsuit reinstated
A landmark regional opioid lawsuit suit brought by six Tennessee district attorney generals, including Jimmy Dunn of the Fourth Judicial District, against major pharmaceutical manufacturers is back on track. Judge D. Michael Swiney, Tennessee Court of Appeals at Knoxville, on Thursday reversed last fall's judgment by Eighth Judicial District Judge John D. McAfee granting multiple motions from pharmaceutical producers to dismiss what is known as the I-75 Corridor opioid lawsuit. In his ruling, Judge Swiney determined that drug manufacturers can be liable under Tennessee's Drug Dealer Liability Act (DDLA), and that the manufacturer defendants did not meet their burden in their motion to dismiss the claim. The case has now been sent for trial. The complaint lists prescription opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma, L.P. and its related companies, along with other opioid producers. “The manufacturer defendants knowingly flooded the affected areas with drugs they knew would later be diverted," says J. Gerard Stranch, managing partner for Nashville, Tennessee-based law firm Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, PLLC. "They actively enabled events from the top down for the sake of profit and knowingly participated in Tennessee's illegal drug market. That is the basis for civil liability under the DDLA, whether the activity happens in a back alley or at a corporation's headquarters. We look forward to presenting the facts to a jury in the near future." The I-75 Corridor suit, which focuses on an area designated as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), demands judgment against the defendants for damages and seeks restitution for the plaintiffs and an injunction to stop the flood of opioids to the region.


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