First Opioid Jury Trial Marks High-Stakes Test for Drug Industry

Jurors on New York’s Long Island are set to determine whether a group of opioid makers and drug distributors created a public health crisis and should pay for it, in a bellwether trial for lawsuits filed by communities across the U.S.

Endo International Plc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and McKesson Corp. are among the companies that New York Attorney General Letitia James and Nassau and Suffolk counties say made billions of dollars selling the highly addictive pills while illegally marketing them or turning a blind eye to suspiciously large orders. Opening arguments in the Central Islip, New York, trial ...