Washington State Sues J&J Over Opioid Crisis -- Update
January 02 2020 - 5:32PM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
Washington State sued Johnson & Johnson, accusing the
drugmaker 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."
A representative for J&J's Janssen Pharmaceuticals
subsidiary defended the company's actions in marketing and
promoting the prescription pain medications as appropriate and
responsible.
"We believe litigation is not the answer to public health
crises, and we continue to work with partners to help communities
in need," the company said.
Washington State--which has filed similar claims against
drugmaker 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.
J&J has offered to pay $4 billion to resolve the entirety of
the opioid litigation as part of settlement talks between several
companies and some state attorneys general. That deal is still far
from finalized, however, as states try to reach a consensus on the
overall settlement amount.
--Sara Randazzo contributed to this story.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 02, 2020 17:17 ET (22:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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