Washington seeks over $38 billion from opioid distributors

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is taking the state’s case against the nation’s three biggest drug distributors to trial Monday

SEATTLE -- Having rejected a half-billion-dollar settlement offer, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is taking the state's case against the nation's three biggest drug distributors to trial Monday, saying they must be held accountable for their role in the opioid crisis.

But his gamble isn't without risk, as a loss by three California counties in a similar case this month demonstrates.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson issued a tentative ruling Nov. 1 that the counties, plus the city of Oakland, had not proven the pharmaceutical companies used deceptive marketing to increase unnecessary opioid prescriptions and create a public nuisance.

In an email, Ferguson stressed that the relevant Washington laws differ from California's and called the cases “apples and oranges.”