Robbins Geller Leads Litigation Nationwide to Combat the Opioid Crisis

This week, a historic federal trial kicks off in the City and County of San Francisco’s lawsuit against drug companies for allegedly facilitating the city’s opioid crisis. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is livestreaming the trial proceedings for the public. Information on how to access the livestream and trial exhibits is available here.

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About the San Francisco Federal Trial

The City and County of San Francisco is prosecuting pharmaceutical companies for making misleading statements about the risks of opioid use and distributors and retailers for failing to have adequate monitoring systems to identify suspicious orders of opioids. The City alleges that these practices facilitated a “public nuisance” in the form of the opioid crisis, which significantly impacted the community in San Francisco.

Robbins Geller partner Aelish Marie Baig and co-counsel are delivering opening statements on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco. Ms. Baig also serves on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee of a pending case against McKinsey & Co., Inc., a consulting firm, for its role in creating allegedly misleading techniques used to market and sell opioids.

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Robbins Geller’s Ongoing Prosecution of Opioid Crisis Cases

For several years, Robbins Geller has represented states, counties, and cities devastated by the opioid epidemic, including communities in California and Florida that were hit hard by the crisis. Our clients have sought accountability for the drug corporations, marketers, distributors, and others who have saturated these communities with drugs. An Associated Press analysis of federal distribution data found that enough prescription opioids were shipped in 2012 for every person in the U.S. to have a 20-day supply.

Robbins Geller partner Paul J. Geller was a key architect of the recent $26 billion nationwide opioid settlement, which resolved opioid-related claims from thousands of communities across the country. The case is of the most complex multi-party, multi-state consumer prosecutions in American history. Billions have been earmarked for education, intervention, and recovery support. The settlement, resolving lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., and McKesson Corp., was finalized earlier in 2022. Mr. Geller serves on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for the nationwide litigation and oversees the Firm’s opioid-related litigation across the country.

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