Early this morning, lawyers in Oklahoma asked a judge to hold Johnson & Johnson responsible for the outbreak of the opioid crisis. The team of lawyers pursuing the case in Oklahoma claim the J&J knowingly downplayed the addictive nature of their products, which has resulted in countless overdoses. Brad Beckworth, who was performing closing arguments stated that “This company (J&J) went out and sponsored lies” when referring to the fact that the company claimed the risk of addiction was less than 1%.
Backlash
Oklahoma is not the only one suing the pharmaceutical company. Over 2,000 different local and state governments have filed actions that accuse the company of contributing to the opioid epidemic. It’s important to remember that in 2017, opioids were linked to over 45,000 deaths. This is according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The states that have filed these actions have claimed that J&J has acted as a “kingpin” in the latest drug crisis. However, J&J are not the only ones who have been accused of wrongdoing. Drug manufacturers Purdue and Teva were both defendants in this Oklahoma case as well. They deny any wrongdoing, but both have settled outside of court. Purdue reached a settlement of $270 million. Teva settled for $85 million in June.
Remedy
The state is demanding the J&J pay 17.5 billion dollars. J&J is being sued under the statue of Public nuisance Law Theory. The Attorney’s of J&J claims the state is stretching the bounds of the law in order to force J&J to pay such a large sum of money. On top of this, J&J argued that its products made up a small amount of the prescribed opioids in Oklahoma. J&J claims no wrongdoing since their products were FDA-approved with warning labels. Regardless of the warning labels, the state claims that J&J still advertises its products as having low addiction risks. Regardless of the ruling, things are not looking good for J&J. Their stocks have been plummeting ever since the news broke that they were being accused of fueling the crisis.
Villarreal & Begum: The Texas Law Guns
Have you been prescribed a dangerous drug? Too often, Drug manufacturers take advantage of the trust the FDA puts in them. When this happens, it can result in potential hazards or even death. If you know or suspect that you or a loved one has been a victim of a dangerous drug, please contact Villarreal & Begum: The Texas Law Guns. You might be entitled to financial compensation and the consultation is always free. We can always be contacted by phone at our 210-777-4878 number or by email.
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