Supreme Court's Opioid Edict Spawns 'Troubling' Divisions

Healthcare Litigation attorney Andrew Solinger was quoted in a Law360 article discussing the effects of last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that set a higher bar for convictions under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The Supreme Court opinion set a uniform standard for CSA cases, namely that there must be proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a prescriber knowingly and intentionally prescribed narcotic painkillers for unauthorized reasons. Since the opinion was given, there has been a significant increase in motions for new trials in CSA cases, as outlined by Mr. Solinger in the article.

"In the year since Ruan, we have seen instances of defendants seeking to withdraw guilty pleas and to have convictions set aside in light of the clarified scienter requirement. This effort has proven difficult for defendants," Mr. Solinger told Law360.

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