Alaina Lancaster, based in San Francisco, covers disruptive trends and technologies shaping the future of law. She authors the weekly legal futurist newsletter What's Next. Contact her at [email protected]. On Twitter: @a_lancaster3
A lengthy decision out of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California says Walgreens, the largest opioid distributor in San Francisco, failed "to take reasonable steps to prevent opioids from being diverted and harming the public" over the past 15 years.
The bench ruling from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer marks the first bench trial to find Walgreens liable for public nuisance claims in the nationwide multidistrict litigation stemming from the ongoing opioid epidemic, according to San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu.
"Defendants may not evade legislative mandates merely because their businesses are so large that they affect the lives of many thousands of people," wrote Judge Ethan Schulman in an order Monday.
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