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| Johnson & Johnson accused of 'cynical, deceitful' bid to drive up painkiller sales | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Johnson & Johnson, one of the world’s largest drug companies, has been accused of “a cynical, deceitful multimillion dollar brainwashing campaign” to drive up sales of its powerful painkillers at the opening of the first trial of a pharmaceutical giant over the US opioid epidemic. | |
| Oklahoma’s attorney general, Mike Hunter, told the civil trial, which opened on Tuesday, that Johnson & Johnson played a leading role in “the worst man-made health crisis in the history of the country and the state”. | |
| “How did it happen?” Hunter asked. “Greed.” | |
| The corporation’s trial is a closely watched test case over the extent of big pharma’s responsibility for the opioid drug crisis. | |
| The New Jersey-based firm, better known around the globe for baby powder and shampoo, is fighting allegations by the state of Oklahoma that it conspired with other drug makers deceptively to market opioids by downplaying the significant risk of addiction and by pressuring doctors to prescribe narcotic painkillers, including to children. | The New Jersey-based firm, better known around the globe for baby powder and shampoo, is fighting allegations by the state of Oklahoma that it conspired with other drug makers deceptively to market opioids by downplaying the significant risk of addiction and by pressuring doctors to prescribe narcotic painkillers, including to children. |
| The civil lawsuit also says J&J was “the supplier and the source of the materials used to manufacture these opioid drugs” through subsidiaries in Tasmania, Australia, that grew poppies and refined them for use in narcotic painkillers. | |
| Among the customers was Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma. That company’s high-strength opioid, OxyContin, has been a leading driver of the epidemic that has claimed 400,000 lives in the US over the past two decades. | |
| US medical group that pushed doctors to prescribe painkillers forced to close | US medical group that pushed doctors to prescribe painkillers forced to close |
| “J&J – a ‘family company’ – acted as the kingpin behind this public health emergency, profiting at every stage,” the lawsuit by Oklahoma against the company that has led to this week’s civil trial, alleges. | “J&J – a ‘family company’ – acted as the kingpin behind this public health emergency, profiting at every stage,” the lawsuit by Oklahoma against the company that has led to this week’s civil trial, alleges. |
| The company has denied the allegations. | The company has denied the allegations. |
| The legal action by Oklahoma’s attorney general, Mike Hunter, is expected to set the stage for about 2,000 other civil lawsuits by US states, cities and Native American tribes looking for a settlement with the drug industry to match the $246bn paid by the tobacco companies 21 years ago over their misrepresentation of the dangers of smoking. | |
| Although the suit is likely to be decided over legal arguments about the extent of J&J’s liability, the case also promises to offer an emotional insight into the human impact of an epidemic. | Although the suit is likely to be decided over legal arguments about the extent of J&J’s liability, the case also promises to offer an emotional insight into the human impact of an epidemic. |
| The court will hear testimony from families hit by opioid addiction, including those whose loved ones have died. Among the state’s lawyers is an attorney whose niece died from an opioid overdose and another whose son was addicted. | |
| J&J’s pharmaceutical division, Janssen, manufactured an opioid pill, Nucynta, described by attorney general Hunter as a “deadly heroin pill”. | J&J’s pharmaceutical division, Janssen, manufactured an opioid pill, Nucynta, described by attorney general Hunter as a “deadly heroin pill”. |
| The state accuses J&J of practices seen across the opioid industry including targeting vulnerable groups, understating the risks of addiction and overstating the benefits of prescription opioids, and of funding front groups to push prescribing. | The state accuses J&J of practices seen across the opioid industry including targeting vulnerable groups, understating the risks of addiction and overstating the benefits of prescription opioids, and of funding front groups to push prescribing. |
| Hunter filed the suit against two other companies that the state alleged worked with J&J, Purdue and Teva. But Purdue Pharma agreed to pay $270m to settle the case in March, which included a contribution from the members of the Sackler family that wholly own Purdue, even though they were not named in the suit. | Hunter filed the suit against two other companies that the state alleged worked with J&J, Purdue and Teva. But Purdue Pharma agreed to pay $270m to settle the case in March, which included a contribution from the members of the Sackler family that wholly own Purdue, even though they were not named in the suit. |
| And Israeli-owned Teva Pharmaceuticals settled on Saturday by paying $85m. “J&J was there arm-in-arm with Purdue (and Teva) the whole way,” the state alleges. | |
| Opioids crisis | Opioids crisis |
| Opioids | Opioids |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
| Pharmaceuticals industry | Pharmaceuticals industry |
| news | news |
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