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When the Buffalo Diocese was flush with clergy in the 1970s and 1980s, it usually took years for a priest to earn an appointment as pastor of his own parish, a key vocational milestone. But that wait time decreased dramatically, in some cases to less than a year, as a growing priest shortage forced bishops to rush newly ordained clergy into pastorates. Bishop Michael W. Fisher soon will be taking a different approach with pastor appointments, the Buffalo News reported. Instead of a pastor for each of the diocese’s 160 parishes, Fisher will name just 36 pastors — one for each of the “families” of parishes designated earlier this year as part of the diocese’s “Road to Renewal” effort. The initiative aims to reinvigorate the spiritual lives of area Catholics while at the same time addressing financial constraints brought on by a clergy sex abuse scandal, the diocese’s chapter 11 bankruptcy, and a downturn in church attendance and religious adherence. Diocese leaders yesterday invited 132 active priests to apply for the 36 open pastor slots.

The largest manufacturer of opioids in the United States once cultivated a reliable stable of hundreds of doctors it could count on to write a steady stream of prescriptions for pain pills, the Washington Post reported. These doctors were among 239 medical professionals ranked by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals as its top prescribers of opioids during the height of the pain pill epidemic, in 2013. That year, more than 14,000 Americans died of prescription opioid overdoses. More than a quarter of those prescribers — 65 — were later convicted of crimes related to their medical practices, had their medical licenses suspended or revoked, or paid state or federal fines after being accused of wrongdoing, according to a Washington Post analysis of previously confidential Mallinckrodt documents and emails, along with criminal and civil background checks of the doctors. Between April and September of that year, Mallinckrodt’s sales representatives contacted those 239 prescribers more than 7,000 times. The Mallinckrodt documents are part of a cache of 1.4 million records, emails, audio recordings, videotaped depositions and other materials the company turned over as part of its $1.7 billion bankruptcy settlement in 2020.

CVS Health Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Walmart Inc. today begin a first-of-its-kind trial to determine what the pharmacy chains owe for their role in the opioid epidemic in two Ohio counties, which are seeking $878 million, Reuters reported. A federal jury decided in November that the companies helped create a public nuisance with an alleged flood of addictive pain pills that wound up on the black market, in the first trial the companies faced over the crisis. The jury did not decide how much the companies should pay to help alleviate the health crisis, which will now be determined by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, marking the first trial to separately determine what the pharmacy chains owe after having been found liable. Ohio's Lake and Trumbull Counties want the pharmacy chains to fund a $878 million five-year plan that includes treatment for addiction and overdoses, resources for law enforcement and healthcare providers, and employment training for addicts. Walgreens, CVS and Walmart countered with an offer of a one-year program to buy back unused prescription opioid drugs in the two counties. They argue that Ohio's public nuisance law only requires them to stop the nuisance identified by the jury — an oversupply of prescription drugs — and not to address all of its negative effects. CVS, Walgreens and Walmart have denied the counties’ allegations and said they would appeal the November verdict. The companies argued that if they must do more than buy drugs back, they should not be forced to cover costs related to illegal drug use. They also said the counties have overstated the costs of their five-year plan. The U.S. opioid epidemic has caused more than 500,000 overdose deaths over two decades, according to government data. More than 3,300 opioid lawsuits have been filed nationally against drugmakers, distributors and pharmacy chains, leading to a wave of proposed settlements.

The Walgreens pharmacy chain has reached a $683 million settlement with the state of Florida in a lawsuit accusing the company of improperly dispensing millions of painkillers that contributed to the opioid crisis, state officials said Thursday, the Associated Press reported. State Attorney General Ashley Moody said the deal was struck after four weeks of government evidence was presented at trial. Walgreens was the 12th and final defendant to settle with Florida, which will bring in more than $3 billion for the state to tackle opioid addiction and overdoses. “We now go into battle armed and ready to fight back hard against this manmade crisis,” Moody said at a news conference in Tampa. “I am glad that we have been able to end this monumental litigation and move past the courtroom.” Walgreens, based in Deerfield, Ill., said in a statement that the company did not admit wrongdoing in the deal, during which $620 million will be paid to the state over 18 years and a one-time sum of $63 million for attorney fees. Walgreens operates more than 9,000 stores in all 50 states, according to the company website. About 820 of those locations are in Florida.

U.S. states that claim that Johnson & Johnson violated consumer protection laws should mediate their dispute with a unit of the drugmaker separately from individuals who claim that Johnson & Johnson talc products cause cancer, a Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan said yesterday, Reuters reported. The subsidiary, LTL Management LLC, was formed in October to resolve thousands of lawsuits against J&J in bankruptcy court. Judge Kaplan approved the controversial strategy in February, allowing J&J to assign the lawsuits to LTL and then place LTL in bankruptcy. J&J maintains that its baby powder and talc products are safe and asbestos-free, and it has argued that the bankruptcy case is the fairest and most efficient way to resolve the 38,000 lawsuits alleging that the products cause cancer. In March, Judge Kaplan ordered LTL and talc plaintiffs to begin mediation on a potential settlement of the cancer claims. The attorneys general of 40 states sought to join the mediation, saying that no settlement can succeed without the states' input. The states have asserted claims far in excess of the $2 billion that J&J initially set aside for a future bankruptcy settlement. The magnitude of those claims could allow the states to crowd out other stakeholders during negotiations to resolve LTL's bankruptcy. Judge Kaplan said during a court hearing yesterday that the states' claims should be mediated separately and that he intends to appoint a mediator for those claims by May 24. The new mediator will be able to work with the talc victim mediators toward a comprehensive bankruptcy settlement, Kaplan said. Talc plaintiffs have argued that the bankruptcy filing was an abuse of the legal system, and they are appealing Kaplan's decision to allow the case to remain in bankruptcy court.

Washington has reached a $518 million settlement with drug distributors McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health, ending a months-long trial over the companies' alleged role in fueling the opioid epidemic in the state, McKesson announced yesterday, Reuters reported. Washington opted out of a $26 billion nationwide opioid settlement involving the three drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson. It would have received up to $417.9 million from McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen under that settlement, which was finalized in February. The state had accused the drug distributors of failing to prevent prescription pills from being diverted for illegal use. It had sought $38.2 billion to fund treatment. The distributors, who deny wrongdoing, said the settlement would provide meaningful relief to communities impacted by the opioid epidemic in the United States. Opioid overdoses have caused more than 500,000 deaths in the United States over the past two decades, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A federal appeals court on Friday weighed a multibillion-dollar settlement offer by the Sackler family members who own Purdue Pharma LP, questioning whether Congress has authorized a key feature of the drugmaker’s bankruptcy plan that would end civil opioid litigation against them, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A three-judge panel for the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned lawyers who crafted the proposed settlement, which offers the Sacklers broad legal protections through Purdue’s chapter 11 plan even though they haven’t filed personal bankruptcy. The deal is broadly supported by state attorneys general, opioid victims and other Purdue creditors but is being challenged by the Justice Department’s bankruptcy watchdog. The appeals court could cement the bankruptcy plan or scuttle it. In December, a federal judge in Manhattan threw out the proposed deal that would have extinguished civil suits against the Sacklers in exchange for roughly $4.5 billion from the family, which was opposed at the time by a handful of state attorneys general. While the appeal was pending, the Sacklers won unanimous support from state authorities for a revised settlement worth up to $6 billion.

Honeywell International Inc.’s fight with an asbestos bankruptcy trust has shifted into more than a financial dispute as plaintiffs’ lawyers request to seal from public view the names of law firms that filed claims against a Honeywell-backed trust, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Erie, Pa., is scheduled next week to consider whether to bar disclosure of the names of law firms that Honeywell might link to alleged misuse of the compensation system for a Honeywell unit’s asbestos trust. A committee of asbestos plaintiffs’ firms is requesting the secrecy order ahead of a trial on the industrial conglomerate’s allegations of mismanagement against the compensation trust established by former subsidiary North American Refractories Co., bankrupted in 2002 by mass asbestos claims. While the trial is technically between the Narco trust and Honeywell, the company has put the conduct of asbestos law firms at issue, detailing alleged instances in which claimants’ lawyers submitted questionable affidavits to win compensation. The trust allegedly waved through payments for years that weren’t supported by competent and credible evidence of exposure to a Narco product, according to Honeywell’s complaint. Honeywell said in court papers on Thursday that the law firm names should remain public because the conduct of those law firms is relevant to the company’s case.

A Hess Corp. unit filed for bankruptcy to resolve asbestos-injury claims stemming from an oil refinery the company used to own in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Honx Inc., previously known as Hess Oil New York Corp., filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy to drive a settlement of personal-injury lawsuits stemming from alleged exposure to asbestos, silica and other toxic substances, court papers say. There are roughly 580 cases pending, including a potentially consequential trial set to begin next week. The energy company has faced asbestos litigation for decades from contractors and employees who worked at the St. Croix oil refinery, known from its 1966 opening through 1998 as Hovic, when it was owned solely by Hess, and later as Hovensa and then Limetree Bay. The lawsuits had been “relatively dormant, with no trials scheduled” in the Virgin Islands until July 2021, when lawmakers there allowed people older than 65 to request an expedited trial date within 180 days, according to court papers filed by the Honx subsidiary. The first of these preference trials is scheduled to begin next week, court papers say.

Hertz Corp. faces more complaints that customers were arrested at gunpoint because of disputed reports that they stole the cars they’d rented, a problem the company’s new chief executive has been vowing to eradicate, Bloomberg News reported. Lawyers suing Hertz say they’re preparing to file about 100 new claims, a move that would boost the total of false arrest allegations to more than 300 and complicate efforts to resolve a legal fight playing out in federal court. The new claims are an early challenge for Chief Executive Officer Stephen Scherr, who took over in February and pledged this month that Hertz would change its practices to protect customers who’ve done nothing wrong from false arrests. Currently, at least 230 customers say in court papers that Hertz improperly called in police, mostly while the company was haggling with them about overdue rentals. A small number of cases, including two new claims, allege errors by Hertz employees caused police to pull over innocent customers on suspicion of driving stolen cars. The lead attorney for customers is Francis Alexander Malofiy, a Philadelphia lawyer who has spent years fighting Hertz in court. He says many new clients have come to him in the months since news about the false arrest lawsuits became public. The new claims will be filed in the next few weeks, Malofiy said. Most will land in front of a federal judge in Wilmington, Delaware where the company reorganized in bankruptcy as the pandemic began to hurt the economy in 2020. Hertz left bankruptcy protection in June, but a shell company remained behind to resolve disputed debts, including false arrest claims.