Tennessee Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Appeal by Drug Makers in Opioid Suit

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The Tennessee Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal from pharmaceutical companies asking to be dismissed as defendants in an opioid lawsuit.

The suit was filed in Campbell County in 2017 by six Tennessee district attorneys whose districts are along the Interstate 75 corridor. They are seeking compensation from the pharmaceutical companies for the ravages that opioids have brought on their communities.

The plaintiffs include two children born addicted to opioids. The defendants include Purdue Pharma, Mallinckrodt, Endo Health Solutions and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA.

In a news release from the attorneys general, Eighth Judicial District Attorney General Jared Effler called the state Supreme Court’s decision a “significant milestone.”

“For more than two years, these companies have been trying to delay and derail this litigation so that they do not have to confront the obvious results of their predatory business practices,” Effler said. “We are determined to hold them accountable for the harm they have caused and return any financial settlement to the Tennessee cities and counties where the damage has been done.”

Purdue Pharma has declared bankruptcy since the lawsuit was filed and claims against the company are being pursued in backruptcy court, according to the news release.