In a first-of-its-kind trial, a team of Fox Rothschild LLP attorneys secured a victory for J M Smith in a suit brought by plaintiffs seeking to hold pharmaceutical distribution companies liable for harms caused by their relatives’ opioid abuse under the Georgia Drug Dealer Liability Act.  

The Fox team of John Haggerty, Nick Salter, Stephan Cornell and Karl Helgerson represented J.M. Smith Corp. in Poppell et al v. Cardinal Health Inc. et al, and successfully persuaded a Glynn County, Georgia, jury that J M Smith was not at fault for causing harm to the plaintiffs whose relatives abused opioids. 

Twenty-one plaintiffs filed suit against J M Smith, along with Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp., under the 1997 Georgia statute that allows relatives of drug users to sue dealers or sellers for the harms they endured. This was the first case in which individual victims of the opioid epidemic used the Act against pharmaceutical distribution companies. Prior suits filed by state and local governments pursued public nuisance or deceptive marketing claims.

The Fox team argued J M Smith has long complied with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration regulations aimed at preventing the illegal diversion of controlled substances while simultaneously balancing secure access to these prescribed medications to patients with a legitimate medical need.

They expressed sympathy for the plaintiffs, but stated the company was not responsible for an individual drug abuser’s addictions, including personal histories and choices or the suffering that families experienced as a result of those addictions.

The jury sided with the defendants after more than four weeks of testimony in the trial. Additionally, the jury found all three companies did not violate the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act nor did they engage in a conspiracy with pharmacies in Glynn County, Georgia, to profit from the use of controlled substances used to fill invalid prescriptions.

As this article contains statements regarding past performance, please note that results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.