Firm: Williams & Connolly
Issue Area: Pharma and Tobacco
Williams & Connolly defended Cardinal Health, an opioid distributor, in lawsuits alleging deceptive marketing and sale of opioids including OxyContin. The marketing and over-prescription of opioids has killed hundreds of thousands of people across the United States. Williams & Connolly's Motion to Dismiss argued that the harm caused by deceptive marketing and overprescribing opioids was too attenuated to allow the victims of the crisis to recover. Their brief states, "any connection between the harm alleged by the County and the conduct of Distributors—who neither market nor prescribe prescription drugs to patients—is too attenuated and indirect to state a claim.""