State expert’s data questioned by defense in Orange County opioid trial

Despite drugmakers casting doubts on whether an opioid epidemic exists in California, an analytical expert testifying in a $50 billion trial in Orange County Wednesday said almost 300 billion morphine milligram equivalents, a measurement of dose potency in opioids, were prescribed in the state from 1997 to 2017.

Representing opioid producer Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., which among other drug companies is accused by the state of fueling the opioid epidemic in California by falsely marketing its products, Costa Mesa attorney Collie F. James IV of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP called the state's description of the epidemic "hyperbolic," in his opening statement last month. He said just over 17,000 people died in 2018 as a result of prescribed opioid overdose.

"While every death is its own tragedy, it's important to put that number in perspective," James said. "In the same year 59,960 Californians lost their lives to cancer. That's 34 times more than the number of deaths associated with prescription opioids."

In cross-examination of the state's analytical expert, Lacey Keller of New York, the defense brought out her admission that her calculations of billions of dosages were not limited to the drug company defendants and the opioid products at issue in the trial.

A seemingly significant factor in the trial thus far is the fact that defendant Purdue Pharma, perhaps the most criticized of the drug companies named in the suit, is not an active participant. Claims against the pharmaceutical giant were stayed, pending its bankruptcy case in New York.

The four legal teams representing the drug companies participating in the trial have worked to distance themselves from Purdue, repeatedly stressing the need for plaintiffs' attorneys to clearly identify each individual drug company in allegations and questions asked of witnesses.

The outcome of the case, being tried remotely, will likely affect thousands of settlements in lawsuits filed nationwide by states and municipalities that claim Purdue and other opioid producers fueled an opioid crisis by marketing drugs as safe and effective pain treatments while downplaying the risk of addiction.

Of the similar actions ongoing in a multidistrict litigation in Ohio, a federal lawsuit in Northern California, and state lawsuits in Los Angeles and Orange counties, the Orange County action before Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson in Santa Ana is the most developed and could act as a road map for thousands of lawsuits nationwide. The trial has consistently drawn Zoom crowds of 200 to 300 people and will continue Monday before Wilson.

Arguing for the people of California are the Santa Clara County Counsel's Office, Orange County District Attorney's Office, and the Los Angeles County Counsel's Office.

In addition to civil penalties, the people seek $50 billion in funds to abate the opioid crisis in the plaintiff counties and city, according to attorneys involved in the suit. People v. Purdue Pharma et al., 14-00725287 (Orange Super. Ct., led May 21, 2014).