Neighbor News
SAFE GC Coalition: Oklahoma Wins Case Against Johnson & Johnson
An Oklahoma judge has ordered pharmaceutical giant Johnson& Johnson to pay $572 million for its role in the state's opioid crisis.
In a landmark decision, an Oklahoma judge on Monday ordered pharmaceutical giant Johnson
& Johnson to pay $572 million for its role in the state's opioid crisis, according to CNN.
The verdict issued by Cleveland County District Judge marks the end of the first state trial attempting to hold a pharmaceutical company accountable for one of the worst health epidemics in history. In his ruling the Judge said the opioid crisis has "ravaged" the state of Oklahoma and that the defendants engaged in false and misleading marketing of both their drugs and opioids generally, and the law makes clear that such conduct is more than enough to serve as the act or omission necessary to establish the first element of Oklahoma's public nuisance law.
Oklahoma is one of dozens of states suing opioid drug makers and this case is the first state case to reach trial. A federal trial is slated for this fall in which nearly 2,000 cases involving cities, counties, communities and tribal lands have been rolled into one, accusing opioid makers of causing the epidemic.
Find out what's happening in Glen Covefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Oklahoma previously reached settlements with two other opioid drugmakers: a $270 million settlement with Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, and an $85 million settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals, one of the world's leading providers of generic drugs. Oklahoma contended that Johnson & Johnson and Teva bared some responsibility for thousands of opioid deaths across the state, in addition to the health care, law enforcement and treatment costs of the state’s addiction crisis. Johnson & Johnson said it will appeal the ruling.
To read the full article please visit https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/26/health/oklahoma-opioid-trial-verdict-bn/index.html
Find out what's happening in Glen Covefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The SAFE Glen Cove Coalition is conducting an opioid prevention awareness campaign entitled, "Keeping Glen Cove SAFE," in order to educate and update the community regarding opioid use and its consequences. To learn more about the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition please follow us on www.facebook.com/safeglencovecoalition or visit SAFE’s website to learn more about the Opioid Epidemic at www.safeglencove.org.
