On November 2, 2023, the NAM filed an amicus brief asking the Maine Supreme Court to affirm a trial court decision rejecting public nuisance claims brought by various hospital operators based on the manufacturing defendants' marketing or distribution of opioid medications. In this case, the hospital operators allege that marketing and distribution of opioids contributed to the opioid epidemic and increased operating costs to treat impacted patients.
We argue in our amicus brief that the trial court's decision is consistent with longstanding public nuisance liability principles and to reverse the decision would threaten open ended, industry-wide liability for a variety of products that may also have foreseeable risks or inherent externalities, including pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, and household chemicals. This case is important for all manufacturers because if the lower court's ruling is reversed, manufacturers could be subject to industry-wide liability in Maine for selling and marketing products with known risks of harm with few, if any, defenses.