Express Scripts Entities Get Opioid Case Moved to Federal Court

Arlington County, Va., will have to try its case against two Express Scripts Inc. subcontractors in federal court, as the entities allegedly distributed opioids there under the direction and control of the federal government, the Fourth Circuit said Monday.

The federal officer removal statute gives the federal court jurisdiction over the county’s claims that Express Scripts Pharmacy Inc. and ESI Mail Pharmacy Service Inc. caused or contributed to an opioid epidemic that roughly tripled the number of overdose deaths in the county between 1999 and 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said.

Express Scripts is ...