NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (WFLA) — It’s day two in the case of the State of Florida versus Walgreens. Jurors first heard from Dr. David Courtwright, a retired University of North Florida professor and medical history expert.
Attorneys for Walgreens questioned him about the drug company’s activities during the opioid epidemic, naming specifically Perdue Pharma.
Dr. Courtwright explained that the company had a team of 2,500 doctors to speak on how effective their products were.
“Some were part-timers who would give a talk or two,” Courtwright testified. “And others were considerably more than one or two talks.”
Courtwright also testified about the lavish trips the drug companies would provide for doctors and their loved ones.
Christine Lucas then took the stand. She was a manager at the Walgreens distribution center in Jupiter, Florida. She was over the opioid distribution and talked about the steady rise in how many drugs they were shipping out on a regular basis.
It wasn’t unusual, she testified, for employees to call the individual pharmacies to make sure the orders were correct.
“They would call the store that night before everything was generated and see if they could speak to a pharmacist to verify whether they did actually want 500 bottles instead of 50 bottles,” Lucas testified. “And if they couldn’t get a hold of somebody, they just let it go. “
She also testified about how the DEA raided the distribution center and broke down in tears when she spoke with her general manager in a closed-door meeting. She paused when he told her, “here is what we are going to say,” fearing that meant the company was going to deliver a false narrative about what was really going on.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said her office wants Walgreens to be held to account “for its role in helping create and fuel the deadly opioid crisis devastating Florida families and draining taxpayer-funded resources.”
Moody was in court Monday as the trial got underway with opening statements from attorney Jim Webster, who said Walgreens sold billions of opioids in Florida that never should have been sold.
Moody’s office said Walgreens is the lone holdout in a campaign that has recovered more than $3 billion from manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies involved in the opioid crisis. Last week, another giant pharmacy chain, CVS, settled with the state for $484 million.
Walgreens fought back against Webster’s allegations in its own opening statement, arguing it was the state of Florida that did nothing and shifted the blame to drug manufacturers.
“They caused this epidemic by misrepresenting the risks and benefits to pharmacies,” Derringer said.
Attorneys said the trial could last anywhere from three to eight weeks.
