Scott Seaman Discusses Ohio Supreme Court's Recent Opioid Public Nuisance Duty-to-Defend Ruling

Scott Seaman—Hinshaw partner and Chicago-based co-chair of Hinshaw's Global Insurance Services Practice Group—discussed in a Law360 article the Ohio Supreme Court's recent reversal of a ruling that had held that insurers had a duty to defend against government public nuisance suits over the increased costs of responding to the opioid epidemic.

Seaman applauded the court's "solid" decision. "As the court noted, the governmental entities tie their alleged losses to the aggregate economic injuries they have experienced as a result of the opioid epidemic, not to any particular bodily injury that they or anyone in particular sustained and the requirement in the policies of 'damages because of bodily injury' is not satisfied," he said.

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"Ohio Ruling Continues Pro-Insurer Shift In Opioid Wars" was published by Law360 on September 12, 2022.