Oklahoma Tests A Legal Strategy Against Opioid Maker

By Jackie Fortier, StateImpact Oklahoma (via Kaiser Health News)

This story is part of a partnership that includes StateImpact Oklahoma, NPR and Kaiser Health News.

Did drugmaker Johnson & Johnson create a “public nuisance” that led to the opioid epidemic? That’s the question a state judge in Oklahoma is weighing after the country’s first trial against opioid manufacturers wrapped up Monday. The state is asking for $17 billion in damages. Jackie Fortier of StateImpact Oklahoma has covered the trial from start to finish for NPR and Kaiser Health News. This account of the seven-week trial’s closing arguments aired on NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Tuesday.

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.