OPLA Bars Opioid-Related Public Nuisance Claims Against Pharmacies, Ohio High Court Rules

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Product Liability Act bars Ohio counties’ claims that national pharmaceutical chains caused a public nuisance by filling opioid prescriptions without implementing controls to stop the distribution of opioids that were illegally prescribed, the state supreme court has ruled.

In a Dec. 10 opinion, an Ohio Supreme Court majority, in answering a question certified by the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, found that the OPLA, as amended in 2007, eliminated all forms of common law public nuisance claims for the sale of products and that the Act governs any public nuisance claim.

“The plain language …