The three-judge panel continued to level out that not one of the 77 lawsuits in opposition to Quest “predicates restoration on a selected particular person’s bodily damage, and so no criticism triggers the insurers’ responsibility to defend.”
“Nothing within the insurance policies means that they have been meant to cowl lawsuits like those right here, introduced primarily by native governments to get well purely financial injury,” wrote Circuit Choose R. Man Cole Jr.
Notably, the courtroom additionally quoted from a ruling it made in 2021 that earnings losses as a consequence of COVID-19 well being orders weren’t coated by all-risk property insurance coverage insurance policies.
“Insurance coverage ‘shouldn’t be a common security web for all risks,’ and courts should keep away from decoding insurance coverage protection to exceed the bounds of a coverage’s plain language,” Choose Cole mentioned.
Reuters reported that the 77 lawsuits in opposition to Quest are only a small fraction of the over 3,300 which have been filed in opposition to prescription drugs, distributors, and pharmacies over the opioid epidemic. In line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, nearly 500,000 opioid overdose deaths have been recorded between 2009 and 2019.
Additionally this week, the movie firms Black Label Media and No Exit Movie filed a lawsuit in opposition to their insurer New York Marine and Common Insurance coverage, alleging that the insurer refused to settle a declare with a grievously injured cameraman that sued the 2.
