An Oklahoma judge has ordered drug maker Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for its role in the state’s opioid crisis, which the court says has “ravaged” communities there. The state of Oklahoma previously settled with two other drug companies for a total of $355 million: Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, and Teva Pharmaceuticals, a leading manufacturer of generic opioid drugs .
This landmark verdict is the first state court trial to hold a pharmaceutical company liable for causing one of the first health epidemics in U.S. history. Dozens of other states have also sued opioid manufacturers and sellers. And nearly 2,000 cases brought by cities, counties, and tribal communities are pending in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio. The first federal trial is scheduled to begin this fall.
Johnson Johnson Lucas & Middleton represents the Consolidated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in their federal lawsuits against the manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of opioid drugs.
For more information about the trial, Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Pay $572 Million in Landmark Opiod Trial