A team of Greenberg Traurig, LLP Products Liability & Mass Torts Practice attorneys led by Practice Chair and Chicago office Shareholder Francis A. Citera secured victory for Albertsons in the Alaska Superior Court in State of Alaska v. Walgreen Co., et al., 3AN-22-06675 CI. The court held that Alaska may not pursue its claims based on either public nuisance or the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act (UTPA) as being unsupported by Alaska law.
On June 16, 2022, the State of Alaska filed a wide-ranging complaint seeking to impose liability on four retail pharmacy defendants, including Albertsons, for filling prescriptions for FDA-approved opioid medications written by state-licensed physicians. The state claimed that the resulting abuse and misuse of opioids constitutes a public nuisance for which the retail pharmacy defendants were liable. On August 31, 2022, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the action.
On August 22, 2023, Citera argued the motion during a multihour hearing on behalf of Albertsons.
On March 4, Judge Una Gandbhir held that the actions alleged by Alaska do not constitute grounds for a public nuisance claim and are exempt from the UTPA under Alaska law. In granting the defendants’ motion, Judge Gandbhir noted that the threat of misuse of an otherwise legal product is not a violation of a public right even if there has been damage to the public and that the state’s argument was “a bridge too far.” The court granted the defendants’ motion, holding that the state may not pursue its claims based on either public nuisance or the UTPA as being unsupported by Alaska law.
“We are pleased that the court agreed with our position that the state’s claims were inconsistent with Alaska law,” Citera said. “This decision is likely to be a bellwether for other cases being brought against opioid dispensers, distributors, and manufacturers, which have been referred to as among the largest and most complex civil cases in the nation’s history.”
Other members of the Greenberg Traurig attorney team representing Albertsons are Shareholders Gretchen N. Miller, Brett M. Doran, Caitlyn E. Haller, Linda M. Ricci, Natalie F. Wayne, and Michele L. Stocker, and Associates Gregory Franklin, Craig Martin, and Emily E. Mankowski.
Original source can be found here.