Washington State AG Sues Pharma Giant Over Opioid Crisis

SEATTLE, WA — The state of Washington filed a lawsuit Thursday against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, accusing the company of negligence by claiming its prescription opioids could treat pain effectively without causing addiction.

The suit, filed in King County Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages and civil penalties, and requests that the company forfeit any profits it made in Washington stemming from its behavior.

“Opioids have torn apart Washington families, overburdened our health care system and caused an epidemic of addiction we are struggling to contain,” state attorney general Bob Ferguson said in a statement. “Johnson & Johnson must be held responsible for the damage it caused.”

According to Ferguson, Johnson & Johnson worsened the opioid epidemic in Washington "by embarking on a massive deceptive marketing campaign" and downplaying addiction risks to both doctors and the public.

Janssen Pharmaceutical Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson named in the lawsuit, told the Associated Press that its opioid marketing was "appropriate and responsible."

“Janssen provided our prescription pain medicines for doctors treating patients suffering from severe pain and worked with regulators to ensure safe use – everything you’d expect a responsible company to do,″ the company said in a statement.

According to the state's lawsuit, prescriptions and sales of opioids in Washington rose by more than 500 percent between 1997 and 2011. More than 112 million daily doses of prescription opioids were dispensed in Washington in 2011 — the peak year of overall sales, the state said.

More than 8,000 Washington residents died from opioid overdoses between 2006 and 2017, according to the state. Long hospital stays related to the crisis have severely strained the state's health care system.

In November, an Oklahoma judge ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay the state $465 million to address the opioid crisis, finding that the company helped fuel the crisis through misleading marketing that understated addiction risks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.