CHARLESTON – As the federal trial against three major opioid distributors continued, data showing pharmacies in Huntington and Cabell County were ordering well above the national average of controlled substances, some ordering more than five times the national average.
Cabell County and the City of Huntington sued the three largest pharmaceutical distribution companies – AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson Corp. – in 2017 claiming the companies were largely responsible for the opioid crisis after the companies shipped more than 81 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to the county of just 100,000 residents between 2006 and 2014.
At the start of the May 18 testimony, officials from AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health objected to the number of documents the plaintiffs were presenting for possible use during examination the previous evening, stating it was unfair that the plaintiffs did not give a subset list of the known documents to be used during questioning.