Oklahoma court overturned ruling against Johnson & Johnson

In its ruling Tuesday, the state Supreme Court took issue with the lower court’s application of the state’s public nuisance law, arguing it doesn’t cover the “manufacturing, marketing and the selling of prescription opioids.” 

The lawsuit was the first trial in the nation that sought to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable for widespread opioid addiction and overdoses. During the seven-week trial, lawyers for the state argued Johnson & Johnson was liable. 

The drugmaker was ordered in 2019 to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to help address the damage caused by opioid addiction in Oklahoma. The dollar amount—initially $572 million but later reduced to $465 million—represented an estimated year’s worth of treatment and programs.

Johnson & Johnson Opioid Verdict Overturned by Oklahoma Supreme Court – WSJ

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