Oklahoma judge rules against Johnson & Johnson in opioid suit

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – An Oklahoma judge ruled Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary helped contribute to the state’s opioid crisis. Now, the drugmaker is being held liable for over half-a-billion dollars in damages.

NBC News reports attorneys for the state of Oklahoma successfully argued that Johnson & Johnson along with one of their subsidiaries, Janssen, are partially responsible for Oklahoma’s opioid crisis in their push for profits.

Oklahoma State Attorney Brad Beckworth said, “Johnson & Johnson knew opioid drugs were addictive and caused harm. Despite that, they marketed their drugs as safe and effective for everyday pain.”

Lawyers for the drugmaker argued their products were both properly regulated and infrequently prescribed. “The facts are that the company’s products were rarely diverted, rarely abused, an amount to less than 1% of all the opioid medicines that are prescribed to patients in Oklahoma,” Johnson & Johnson attorney Sabrina Strong said.

“The opioid crisis has ravaged the state of Oklahoma, it must be abated immediately,” Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman said in his ruling. “For this reason, I’m entering an abatement plan that consists of costs totaling $572,102,028 to immediately remediate the nuisance.”

The recent decision sets a landmark legal precedent that could affect thousands of similar cases already working through the legal system.