WTRF

US judge finds in favor of 3 drug distributors in West Virginia opioid lawsuit

FILE - Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, left, and lawyer Rusty Webb enter the Robert C. Byrd United States Courthouse in Charleston, W.Va., on May 3, 2021, for the start of a trial in an opioid lawsuit filed by Cabell County and the city of Huntington against major drug distributors. A federal judge on Monday, July 4, 2022, ruled in favor of three major U.S. drug distributors in a landmark lawsuit that accused them of causing a health crisis in one West Virginia county ravaged by opioid addiction.(Kenny Kemp/Charleston Gazette-Mail via AP, File)

A federal judge has ruled in favor of three major U.S. drug distributors in a landmark lawsuit filed in West Virginia.

Judge David Faber issued the ruling Monday nearly a year after closing arguments were held in a bench trial in a lawsuit filed by Cabell County and the city of Huntington.

The suit accused AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson of causing a health crisis by distributing 81 million pills over eight years in a county ravaged by opioid addiction.

Faber says that while the opioid crisis has taken a considerable toll, such cases should be decided on the facts and the l