Johnson & Johnson ran ‘cunning’ scheme to market opioids, attorney says

Oklahoma state attorney general is suing company for $17bn, to fund treatment and offset other costs of the opioid epidemic

The pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson ran a “cunning, cynical and deceitful scheme” to mass-market opioid painkillers that created the biggest drug epidemic in US history, Oklahoma’s attorney general alleged in closing arguments on Monday in the first major industry trial over the crisis.

The state attorney general, Mike Hunter, is suing Johnson & Johnson for $17bn, to fund treatment and offset other costs of the epidemic in Oklahoma.

Judge Thad Balkman is expected to deliver a verdict next month. It will be closely watched, with hundreds of other lawsuits against drug makers, distributors and pharmacy chains expected to come to federal court.

Read the full article: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/15/johnson-johnson-trial-opioids-crisis-oklahoma-attorney-general