4 pharma companies say state has not made its case in Orange County trial

The state failed to show that opioid makers knew their marketing would lead to an opioid epidemic, the drug companies' attorneys argued in motions for judgment in a $50 billion bench trial in Orange County

After the state's seven-week case in chief, four pharmaceutical companies including Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., the makers of the opioid painkiller Opana, asked Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson to rule in their favor. If he does, the companies could forgo making a case at trial.

The state, which says the companies falsely marketed their opioids as rarely addicting, failed to establish the necessary elements for their false advertising, unfair competition or public nuisance claims, Endo attorneys wrote.

"None of the people's experts, fact witnesses, or exhibits proved any false or misleading marketing by Endo, let alone any plausible causal link between Endo's marketing and the broad nuisance alleged," the motion read. "The people have no evidence that Endo knew that marketing FDA-approved medications using FDA-approved risk disclosures for FDA-approved indications would cause a public health hazard."

Four of the drug companies named in the suit are participating in the trial and have their own individual defense teams. Purdue Pharma, also named, is sitting out the trial, pending the completion of a bankruptcy case in New York.

Wilson said last week that if he did not deny the motions outright, he would allow the state, represented by four municipalities, to either file written replies or make oral arguments before he made his final ruling.

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 Pharma and other opioid producers fueled an opioid crisis by marketing drugs as safe and effective pain treatments while downplaying the risk of addiction.

Arguing for the people of California are the Santa Clara County Counsel's Office, Orange County District Attorney's Office, the Los Angeles County Counsel's Office and the Oakland city attorney's office. In addition to civil penalties, the people seek $50 billion 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., filed May 21, 2014).