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West Virginia Convinces Judge to Return McKesson Lawsuit to County

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia’s attorney general has convinced a judge to move the state’s lawsuit against the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributor out of federal court and back to Boone County.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver ordered Monday that the state’s lawsuit against San Francisco-based McKesson Corp. be returned to Boone County Circuit Court.

The lawsuit says McKesson didn’t take steps to stop massive shipments of prescription painkillers to West Virginia.

McKesson wanted the case to be heard in federal court, where the law is typically more favorable to corporations. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s office successfully argued that the lawsuit belongs back in Boone County.

The U.S. Justice Department finalized a $150 million settlement with McKesson after accusing it of failing to detect and report pharmacies’ suspicious orders.