I think this is a crock. To me, it would be like blaming CCI for their bullets killing people. So typical these days, no one is willing to take personal responsibility. It's always blame the other guy.


Judge Orders Johnson & Johnson to Pay Oklahoma $572M in Opioid Case

Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman ruled Monday that Johnson & Johnson must pay the state of Oklahoma $572,102,028 for its role in exacerbating the opioid crisis in the state.
The civil case is the nation’s first that aims to hold the pharmaceutical industry responsible for the drug epidemic that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), contributed to nearly 48,000 overdose deaths throughout the country in 2017.
Oklahoma had initially requested more than $17 billion from Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, over a period of 30 years to assist those with drug dependency and prevent future epidemics.
Nevertheless, Mike Hunter, the state’s attorney general, still referred to the judge’s ruling as “a great triumph,” reported the Washington Examiner.
“I do hope that today Judge Balkman’s decision will provide some solace to the thousands of families that have tragically lost a loved one to an opioid overdose,” Hunter said in a press conference. “Today should also inspire a sense of optimism for those suffering with opioid addiction because we’re committed to getting you the help you need to reclaim your life.”
Johnson & Johnson said it would appeal Balkman’s decision.
“Janssen did not cause the opioid crisis in Oklahoma, and neither the facts nor the law support this outcome,” said Michael Ullmann, executive vice president and general counsel of Johnson & Johnson. “The unprecedented award for the State’s ‘abatement plan’ has sweeping ramifications for many industries and bears no relation to the Company’s medicines or conduct.”
The state argued the company violated its public nuisance statute, the same argument that served as the basis in lawsuits against the tobacco industry in the 1990s and led to its leaders paying out over $246 billion over 25 years, the Examiner noted.
However, Johnson & Johnson argued its medications, which can serve a valid purpose, are not the equivalent of tobacco products.
Oklahoma countered that the pharmaceutical company manipulated physicians into over-prescribing the opioid drugs.
“The FDA label clearly set forth the risk of addiction, abuse and misuse that could lead to overdose and death,” argued Larry Ottaway, an attorney representing Johnson & Johnson. “Don’t tell me that doctors weren’t aware of the risks.”

Source: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/...n-johnson-pay-oklahoma-572m-opioid-case/

that is just year 1 of twenty for that state and the opening of the floodgates for the other 49.time people started taking responsibility for their own actions.imagine what this is gonna do to the price of our prescription drugs in America.

I see all of the class action ambulance chasers on TV and wonder what will happen when they need the products and services they are so intent on crippling for their personal gain. These types of verdicts are a major reason why health care costs in this country are so out of whack.

Yep, the true cost of this will be painful for all Americans, both literally and figuratively.

V.A. had me addicted to morphine in the early 2000's. I wasn't even aware I was addicted. When I needed a higher dose a phone call and it was sent to me registered mail. Eventually I had a surgery in the V.A. hospital at Leavenworth. This alleviated my pain immeasurably. When I got home I quit taking the morphine. At that time I was still in pain from surgery but it was bearable. Nothing like what I had experienced prior to surgery.

I got bad sick. Cramps, chills, sweating. At night I was freezing but sweating. Our bed would be soaked. Wife would change the sheets a couple times every night. I though I had gotten an infection. Called the DR who proceeded to chew me out. Said cold turkey could be fatal. Said after the surgery healed I was scheduled for detox. I hadn't had any for several days so just didn't take any more. The sweating and cramps lasted about a week. I was pretty sick for a couple more weeks.

I know what opioid addiction does when you stop. I also know I'm not special. I don't have much sympathy for junkies. I don't know exactly what detox in a hospital is but I know its available.

$400,000.000.00 of this will go directly to the lawyers, who will probably use it to buy cocaine.

I don't recall this kind of squalling when big tabacco got shaken down.

That was the precedent, expect more like it.

J&J will have this tied up in court for years to come!

Yes when will Anhauser -Busch be sued for all the alcohol related deaths. Car companies for all the vehicle deaths.

This crap about OD's being thru the roof and pills being the source is hog wash. 87% are from heroin and fentanyl . Ok why are the needle companies not being sued because they need them to inject. ?

And the doctors who pass our opioids like candy??

i think the distinction is bullets ,cars and alcohol don't try to hide the data that shows misuse is deadly.

86% of injection opiod users reported starting non prescription use of prescription narcotics before injection and 75% of injection users reported that their first use of a Narcotic was prescription use of a prescribed to them prescription narcotic . those are huge numbers.
this is why the narcotic epidemic has moved from street junkies and historically typical risk groups to house wives , working people NFL players , tv and radio personalities and other professionals.

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publicati...iption-opioid-use-risk-factor-heroin-use

the prescription narcotics industry had the data and hid it from doctors and the FDA and pushed only the benefits hard to doctors to promote sales 572 million is a pittance compared to what was made if they were making 10 cents a pill net they made that in less than a year on the push to over prescribe prescription narcotics with suppressed medical study info.


sort of like how Martha steward didn't do time for cheating the stock market , she did time for lying about cheating the stock market.

How does a person inject a transdermal patch through a syringe ? J&J's product was a patch and a non-crushable pill. Pretty tough to get those through a needle.

lawsuits like this are going to be counterproductive. Pharmaceutical companies aren't going to be inclined to do expensive R&D if some hack politician can sue them out of existence by using public nuisance law that requires no evidence of causation.

state of Oklahoma doesn't want me on the jury

And misuse of alcohol is not deadly?

One way to reduce the OD's is to stop bringing them back 5,6 ,7 or more times. Enter them in a data base and 3 rounds of Narcan and they are done. Let God deal with them. When Sincinnati got hit by hot batch of heroin 2 years ago they documented one guy OD 12 TIMES in 4 days !!!!!!! WTH ........

Well said White !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

miss use of alcohol is very deadly, I never said it was not I have an aunt who works for Anhiser bush but they recognize the danger of drinking and driving and have free cab rides for employees who drink as part of their job that is different than hiding the data and suppressing the dangers to promote sales , I have 3 uncles dead from the effects of alcohol 2 DUI luckily they only killed themselves 2 crashes 11 years apart and a third uncle drank himself to death at 61 he had been in and out of AA so many times he knew it was bad but again at least he only drank himself to death although his children don't live a very healthy lifestyle either and their mother is also an alcoholic in an out of AA.

the issue with medics deciding who does and doesn't get narcan is they don't check database , what if the DB is down it is wasted time they are Medics they live to save life and are not judges.
a more realistic solution would be that if narcan is given your just got yourself a 72 hour Pysc hold and a trip with due process to a 90 day drug rehabilitation program and a year of court supervision after that with regular drug tests.

but the fact of the matter is that is expensive compared to another dose of narcan in a day or two because the system is already overwhelmed it just does what it can to plug up leaks as it can.

If it was legal to be a junky they could buy dope at a pharmacy and purity would be known and not guessed at. They wouldn't have to steal either. A 200 dollar a day habit would cost 10 bucks. About the same as most nicotine addicts. Life expectancy would be about the same also. There would still be problems but constant overdosing would not be one and probably less tax burden on healthy people.

Blaming the drug companies for people's choice to misuse a drug is like blaming Stanley for making a hammer that drives crooked nails.

Other companies are seeing the hand writing and offering huge dollars for treatment etc. There will be much of this in the near term. One firm offered a huge some to wipe out the 2,000 or more filed against them. This decision changes the likely outcomes of many of those suits. Taken as a whole verdicts like this could be used to re-direct the whole gun advocate groups as they are now seeing that liability can be found in items, companies, persons etc. other than the gun itself.

Bryce

Bad example, Stanley hammers do drive crooked nails. Stanley hammers suck!