Lawyer for pharma company argues against single trial in B.C. opioid damages case
BNN Bloomberg
A lawyer for a pharmaceutical firm says holding a single trial in British Columbia to determine damages for each province and territory related to opioid health-care costs would be a "monster of complexity."
Gordon McKee, a lawyer for Janssen Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, told the B.C. Supreme Court that certifying Canadian governments as a class in their pursuit of damages against opioid makers isn't manageable or preferable compared with separate trials.
McKee says the judge should not certify Canadian governments as a class in the case because it would "burden" B.C.'s justice system and have a negative affect on access to justice for other potential litigants.
He says other courts in the past have recognized that some class-action lawsuits are "too big to certify," and there are enough separate issues in each province or territory that make a single trial unmanageable.
McKee says individual trials specific to each jurisdiction would be more suited and "appropriately spreads the burden" of the complex issues among provincial and territorial justice systems.
A lawyer for the B.C. government asked the court this week to certify the class allowing provinces and territories to join their claims against the dozens of defendant companies, saying the actions are nearly identical claiming health care costs related to the opioid crisis that has killed or injured thousands of Canadians.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2023.
B.C. in court against pharma companies in bid to certify opioid class-action lawsuit
The Canadian Press
The British Columbia government goes up against dozens of health care and pharmaceutical companies in court today in a bid to get certification for a class-action lawsuit over the costs of the opioid crisis.
It comes even after the Supreme Court of Canada agreed this month to hear a constitutional challenge by four of the companies who say a law allowing B.C. to recover costs on behalf of other governments is an overreach.
Those companies then went back to the Supreme Court of B.C. to seek a delay of the certification hearing while the high court rules, but the judge said an adjournment wasn't in the interests of justice.
The province began the legal odyssey in August 2018 by passing the Opioid Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, seeking costs from firms alleged to have contributed to opioid addiction.
B.C. declared a public health emergency in 2016 over the crisis, and since then nearly 13,000 people have died of overdoses in the province.
The certification hearing is expected to last about four weeks and a civil trial would then have to be held to determine if the companies are liable for damages.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2023.
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