Drug companies seek removal of judge in landmark opioid case

Drug companies facing more than 2,000 lawsuits over their alleged roles in the opioid epidemic demanded Saturday that the federal judge overseeing the case step aside, questioning his impartiality because he has consistently urged both sides to settle the case.

The request comes after a series of rulings against the companies by U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster in the landmark trial slated to begin Oct. 21.

“Defendants do not bring this motion lightly,” the lawyers wrote in a filing Saturday morning on behalf of some of the nation’s biggest drug distributors and retailers but no drug manufacturers. “Taken as a whole and viewed objectively, the record clearly demonstrates that recusal is necessary.”

The defense lawyers contended that Polster has overstepped his authority and created the appearance of bias. They cited his statements since the beginning of the case that he wants the sides to settle so that money for badly-needed drug treatment, overdose prevention and other services could go quickly to communities hard hit by the opioid epidemic.
Last month, an appellate court admonished some of the defendants for a legal attack on Polster over an unrelated question. The panel of appellate judges said their claim that Polster’s “assurances are not entitled to our respect because [he] has been deceptive or duplicitous...is a very serious allegation and we find no merit to it.”