J&J: Sole Defendant In The Oklahoma State Opioid Trial

Introduction

Oklahoma State Attorney General Mike Hunter made an announcement on May 26, Sunday, stating that Teva Pharmaceuticals made a settlement of $85 million over alleged link to the opioid epidemic, two days before the trial.

Following the settlement, J&J and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. are the only remaining defendants in the litigation. The trial is considered to be one of the state's first in testing drugmaker liability for an epidemic of painkiller abuse. The state is seeking at least $10 billion in damages and penalties for the opioid epidemic. Around 42 states and more than 1,900 municipalities have sued the companies, demanding billions of dollars in damages.

In a similar trial held in March, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP made a settlement of $270 million. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over more than 1,900 suits filed by U.S. cities and counties of which more than 1,600 cases are filed largely by local governments, Native American tribes, and hospitals. The first trial in the MDL No. 2804 is set to start in October 2019.

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