By Coleman Martinson
The Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors plans to sue Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries over the cost of the opioid epidemic.
The board voted five to zero Tuesday night to retain the Sanford Heisler Sharp law firm, who will serve as lead legal counsel for the county on this matter,
One year ago, the Board of Supervisors engaged the same firm and another to research and quantify the impacts of opioid use in the county,
On April 8, the board declared the opioid epidemic a public nuisance and authorized a separate suit against Purdue Pharma. The suit was filed April 29 in Rockbridge County Circuit Court.
Sanford Heisler Sharp has a track record of filing similar lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for other municipalities in the commonwealth and across the country, according to its website. It is a national firm with offices across the country.