Opioid Settlement

Updated on Friday, April 29, 2022 at 1:21 p.m. Lawyers for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and many of those who had claims against the company over the toll of opioids joined together Friday to urge a federal judicial panel to advance a plan that would settle lawsuits across the country.

The West Virginia trial began last week and is expected to last up to two months. State and local governments, Native American tribes, unions, hospitals and other entities have filed more than 3,000 lawsuits involving the opioid epidemic in state and federal courts.

Three trials are underway now, in Florida, West Virginia and Washington state. New legal settlements are being reached practically every week to provide governments money to fight the crisis and in some cases funds for medicines to reverse overdoses or to help with treatment.

On this West Virginia Morning, while officials from Cabell County argue in court that three drug distributors owe the county and the City of Huntington $2 billion, Wood County is moving to restrict treatment care facilities.

On this West Virginia Morning, education reporter Liz McCormick spoke with Chris Harrington, director of Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute at Michigan Virtual School, to get some perspective on ways to have successful virtual learning – and the importance of reliable internet access.

On this West Virginia Morning, a West Virginia artisan has taken something as mundane as a turkey call and turned it into a work of art, capturing the history and tradition along the way.

West Virginia will opt out in hopes of local governments being able to pursue lawsuits on their own, the attorney general said Wednesday.

The yearslong effort by state and local governments in the U.S. to force the pharmaceutical industry to help pay to fix a nationwide opioid addiction and overdose crisis took a major step forward Tuesday when lawyers for local governments announced they were on the verge of a $26 billion settlement with the nation's three biggest drug distribution companies and the drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.

On this West Virginia Morning, we explore the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on higher education. Also, we have news updates on a landmark opioid trial in Charleston, on two closing power plants in the state and a petition seeking better protections against black lung disease.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Tuesday he doesn’t agree with the settlement formula, which would allocate funds largely based on population. He said West Virginia needs a bigger piece of the pie, since it was hit so hard by the opioid epidemic.