Ohio Appellate Court Rules That Insurer Must Defend Party Involved In Opioid MDL

The Ohio Court of Appeals last week held that liability insurers must defend their policyholders who are involved in the still-rising tide of opioid litigation, joining what is becoming a clear trend in this developing arc of the law. In Acuity v. Masters Pharmaceutical, Inc., a wholesale pharmaceutical distributor, Masters, had been named in numerous lawsuits brought by governmental entities. The lawsuits alleged that Masters was liable for costs the governmental entities contend they incurred in battling opioid abuse. The majority of those lawsuits have been transferred to a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) court in the Northern District of Ohio as part of the “National Prescription Opioid” litigation.