Washington State Sues J&J Over Opioid Crisis
January 02 2020 - 5:03PM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
Washington State sued Johnson & Johnson, accusing the drug
maker of fueling the opioid crisis in that state.
In a complaint filed in King County Superior Court, Attorney
General Bob Ferguson accused J&J of embarking "on a massive
deceptive marketing campaign" to convince doctors and the public
that the drugs were effective in treating chronic pain and had a
low risk of addiction.
"Unlike tobacco or alcohol about which no medical claims were
made, patients were told by health care providers that opioids are
a powerful medicine, safe to use as prescribed, and effective to
relieve chronic pain," the suit reads. "Against this message, the
public had no defense."
J&J officials previously denied playing a role in the opioid
crisis and said it legally sold highly regulated painkillers.
A J&J representative couldn't immediately be reached for
comment on Thursday.
Washington State--which has filed similar claims against drug
maker Purdue Pharma LP and drug distributors McKesson Corp.,
Cardinal Health Inc., and AmerisourceBergen Corp.--referred to an
Oklahoma ruling last year ordering J&J to pay $465 million to
help address the damage caused by opioid addiction in that state.
J&J has appealed.
The Oklahoma case was the first to go to trial out of thousands
of similar cases brought by cities, counties and states that say
drugmakers and distributors are responsible for fueling the opioid
epidemic by marketing drugs too aggressively and not providing
oversight of how many of their prescription drugs flooded into
communities.
--Sara Randazzo contributed to this story.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 02, 2020 16:48 ET (21:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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