By Courtney Hessler, The Herald-Dispatch
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Early intervention and long-term programs are needed for families affected by opioid use disorder to be successful, a witness said Wednesday at a trial in which Huntington and Cabell County are seeking money from drug distributors accused of fueling the opioid crisis.
But those distributors on trial said the programs needed are already in place, funded by other sources such as the federal and state governments, and are not the responsibility of the municipalities, thus the county and city cannot sue for money on their behalf.
Drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson are currently the center of a trial in Charleston after they were accused by Cabell County and Huntington of fueling opioid abuse by shipping 127.9 million opiate dosage units into the county from 2006-14 before users turned to illicit drugs when the number of pills shipped dropped.
The distributors believe it was the Drug Enforcement Administration, and an increase in doctors’ prescribing combined with West Virginians’ history of poor health as the cause…
