West Virginia Judge Rules for Drug Distributors in Opioid Case

Paul Schmidt spoke to National Law Journal about representing McKesson in the opioid case between West Virginia and the nation's three largest drug distributors. Paul stated that U.S. District Judge David Faber's decision, in favor of the drug distributors, reflected one of the key themes the defense raised in the trial: That doctors were increasingly prescribing opiates for the treatment of chronic pain.

“Our defense was based on the fact that prescribing levels increased for good faith reasons, and our job as distributors was to respond to that—that really comes through in the opinion,” Paul said.

In one of the longest decisions to date over the opioid crisis, Judge Faber concluded that the evidence at trial found the “overwhelming majority of doctors were acting in good faith” when writing prescriptions for opiates, which the defendants distributed to legitimate pharmacies.

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