REUTERS: Eight drug companies on Tuesday urged a federal appeals court to disqualify the judge overseeing nationwide opioid litigation, in a last-ditch effort to avoid having him preside over a landmark trial in three weeks.
Polster oversees more than 2,300 of the roughly 2,600 lawsuits brought by state, local and tribal governments, hospitals and other entities seeking to hold the drug industry responsible for the toll of opioid abuse.Ohio's Cuyahoga and Summit counties, the only plaintiffs, want US$8 billion of damages, according to the eight companies.They added that removing Polster would help preserve"public confidence in the integrity of the judicial system.
Their disqualification request, originally made directly to Polster on Sept. 14, followed several rulings against them.
It's time drug companies are held accountable for pushing addictive drugs to increase their profits. This is the same thing the tobaccos industry did for higher profits.