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Date: 08-26-2019
Case Style:
State of Oklahoma v. Johnson & Johnson
Case Number: CJ-2017-816
Judge: Thad Balkman
Court: District Court, Tulsa County, Oklahoma
Plaintiff's Attorney: Mike Hunter and Brad Beckworth
Defendant's Attorney: Larry Ottaway, David Kenney, Kaitlyn Dunn
Description:
Norman, OK - The State of Oklahoma sued Johnson & Johnson on a public nuisance theory that it manufactured, distributed and sold opioid drugs in large qualities.
The parties agreed Oklahoma is suffering a crisis related to opioid drugabuse. The
parties agree on certain statistics and data substantiating the crisis. The parties agree that from
1994 to 2006 , prescription opioid sales increased fourfold and that from 2011-2015, more than
2 ,100 Oklahomans died of an unintentional prescription opioid overdose . Itwas undisputed that
in 2015 , over 326 million opioid pills were dispensed to Oklahoma residents, enough for every
adult to have 110 pills. Oklahoma dispenses the mostprescription fentanyl per capita. In 2017,
4 .2 % of babies born covered by SoonerCare were born with NeonatalAbstinence Syndrome
(also called NAS), a group of conditions caused when a baby withdraws from certain drugs it's
exposed to in the womb before birth.
Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict for $572,102,028. Reversed on November 9, 2021 by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: