Numerous states around the the country have launched lawsuits looking to get some restitution from drug companies for the high costs, in lives and medical care, connected to the opioid crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people have died and there is no lack of evidence showing that big pharmaceutical companies spent big bucks promoting hardcore opioids for pain relief, while downplaying the dangers of addiction posed by those drugs. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter brought such a case against Johnson & Johnson as a “public nuisance” for its part in the current opioid epidemic.
On Monday, Judge Thad Balkman ordered the drug company to pay $572 million, saying its deceptive promotion of prescription painkillers "compromised the health and safety of thousands of Oklahomans. The opioid crisis is an imminent danger and menace to Oklahomans." This was the first case of its kind, and opens up a precedent for more litigation against big pharmaceutical companies who have made billions off of the misery of others.
According to The New York Times, Hunter chose Johnson & Johnson because the company provided 60 percent of the ingredients that drug companies used for opioids like oxycodone, as well as creating its own drugs via sub-companies. Lead attorney for the state Brad Beckworth told reporters, “We’ve shown that J&J was at the root cause of this opioid crisis. It made billions of dollars from it over a 20-year period. They’ve always denied responsibility and yet at the same time they say they want to make a difference in solving this problem. So do the right thing: come in here, pay the judgment.”
Johnson & Johnson has vowed to appeal this verdict, calling it “radical” and pointing to its success in appealing other big-money verdicts against the misrepresentation of the safety of their products. One example: the company’s asbestos-laced baby powder.