The opioid epidemic in West Virginia continues to have a devastating impact on the health and welfare of communities throughout the state. In fact, it is undisputed in the present appeal that West Virginia is “ground zero” for the opioid epidemic in the United States. Within West Virginia, individuals living in Cabell County and the City of Huntington have suffered severe effects in their communities. As of 2017, more than 10 percent of the nearly 150,000 people living in those jurisdictions were or had been addicted to opioids, creating widespread harm to those areas.
The Cabell County Commission and the City of Huntington (the local governments) filed an action in 2017 against three distributors of opioids: AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., and McKesson Corporation (the distributors, or the defendants). The local governments originally filed their claims in state court; the defendants later removed the cases to federal court under the court’s diversity jurisdiction. After removal to federal court, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation designated these cases as “bellwether” cases and directed the parties to “streamline” their claims. In response, the local governments narrowed their claims to a public nuisance action against the three distributor defendants. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation remanded the cases to the Southern District of West Virginia, which consolidated the cases for trial.
The local governments allege that the distributors created, maintained, and perpetuated the opioid epidemic in their jurisdictions. The local governments focus their allegations on the distributors’ conduct of repeatedly shipping opioids to pharmacies in quantities that the distributors allegedly knew or should have known exceeded any legitimate uses for the drugs. So, according to the local governments, the defendants’ actions were a proximate cause of a widespread public nuisance that requires abatement under West Virginia common law.
The district court held a bench trial during which 70 witnesses testified. After the trial, the court entered final judgment for the defendants in a 184-page opinion, which included extensive factual findings. City of Huntington v. AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp., 609 F. Supp. 3d 408 (S.D. W. Va. 2022) (Huntington). In that opinion, the court held that
the local governments’ public nuisance claims failed as a matter of law because West Virginia common law does not permit such a claim based on the distribution of prescription drugs. The district court also made alternative holdings, including that even if a public nuisance claim based on the distribution of opioids were permitted under West Virginia law, the plaintiffs nonetheless failed to prove the elements of such a claim.
In its October 28, 2025 Opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held: “Upon review, we disagree with the district court’s analysis. Initially, we hold that under West Virginia common law, the conditions resulting from the over-distribution of opioids can constitute a public nuisance. We also hold that in assessing the local governments’ claim, the district court misconstrued the distributors’ duties under the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 801–904. This error materially affected the court’s analysis of the distributors’ conduct. The court’s analytical error also materially affected its rulings on proximate causation and remoteness. Finally, we conclude that the district court erred in holding that abatement under West Virginia law is limited to ordering the cessation of the conduct that caused the nuisance, and in holding that the local governments’ abatement request is barred per se as a request for money damages. We vacate the district court’s judgment and remand for further proceedings.”
Source City of Huntington, West Virginia v. AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, No. 22-1819.
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