Westmoreland County intends to file another lawsuit over opioid deaths

Westmoreland County has signaled it intends to file another opioid lawsuit with new litigation that names several national pharmacies as defendants.

The county, through its private outside counsel based in Eastern Pennsylvania, made a court filing earlier this month in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court, a formal step that launches the lawsuit. No details were included in the filing nor was a written complaint that details allegations. No request for damages was made part of the filing.

County solicitor Melissa Guiddy on Friday confirmed it is a precursor to another lawsuit.

“It is anticipated that any potential source of recovery would be administered in accordance with the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust,” Guiddy said.

That is the same fund through which the state is distributing its share of a $26 billion settlement finalized earlier this year with national drugmakers and distributors sued by thousands of municipal governments across the United States.

Westmoreland County is slated to receive $22 million over the next 17 years from that settlement. The first $3 million payout is expected to be received this year and will be split among the county and its 11 largest municipalities. Commissioners said they will meet later this year to determine how the money should be allocated.

The most recent court filing names national chains including CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Walmart as defendants.

Westmoreland County had steady increases in drug overdose deaths over the past decade that reached its highest level in 2017 with a record 193 fatalities. Drug-related deaths decreased over the next several years, but totals again increased last year when the coroner’s office reported 168 fatal overdoses in 2021.

This year, through Sept. 1, the coroner’s office reported 49 confirmed fatal overdoses with another 21 deaths suspected to be drug-related but awaiting final toxicology results.

Meanwhile, Westmoreland County has another lawsuit, initially filed in 2017 against drugmakers and distributors of opioids, still pending. That case has since been transferred to Delaware County, where it is awaiting trial along with cases filed by other Pennsylvania counties and municipalities.