Judge dismisses Northern Light Health’s lawsuit against drug companies

By Nicole Ogrysko, Maine Public

A Cumberland County judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Northern Light Health against a slew of pharmaceutical companies for their role in Maine’s opioid epidemic.

The hospital network sued Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson, among others, as well as pharmacy chains Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS, back in 2021. Northern Light argued that the drug companies and pharmacy chains drove up the hospitals’ cost of doing business during the ongoing opioid crisis.

In a ruling issued earlier this week, Business and Consumer Court Judge Michael Duddy said that the hospital network failed to prove that it was directly harmed by the pharmaceutical companies. And he said Northern Light didn’t show that harm done to the hospital is any different from the experiences of first responders, family members and others who provide direct care to those who overdose.

Northern Light Health runs the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and nine other hospitals in the state. Last year, 716 people died in Maine of overdoses, another new state record.

In a statement, a Northern Light spokesperson said the company “respects” the court’s ruling but disagrees with it and is “evaluating next steps.”

This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.