After Securing Financial Settlement From Purdue, Oklahoma Zeroes In On Opioid Crisis ‘Kingpin’ Johnson & Johnson
Although Purdue Pharma has been the face of the opioid lawsuits, Johnson & Johnson has flown under the radar legally for its alleged role in the opioid crisis. But now Oklahoma's lawyers are contending that Johnson & Johnson did more than push its own pills, it also profited from the prescription opioid crisis through its ownership of a poppy producer in Australia. Other news on the epidemic comes out of Missouri and Connecticut.
Stateline:
Opioid Crisis ‘Kingpin’ Is Oklahoma’s New Target In Lawsuit
After securing a hefty financial settlement from Purdue Pharma last month, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter is training the state’s legal armaments on a much bigger pharmaceutical player: Johnson & Johnson. The company already has become a popular target. Many of the more than 1,600 opioid lawsuits in state and federal courts name Johnson & Johnson, even though its analgesic products account for less than 1% of the U.S. opioid market. (Vestal, 4/4)
St. Louis Public Radio:
Metro East Veterans Sue Drug Companies Over Opioid Marketing
On Friday, Bishop and two other veterans filed suit in Illinois’ Third Judicial Circuit, which includes Madison and Bond counties, against Purdue Pharma and more than a dozen other pharmaceutical companies, alleging they marketed dangerous painkilling drugs to vets. (Hundsdorfer, 4/3)
The CT Mirror:
Blacks Dying From Fentanyl At Same Rate As Whites For First Time
Fentanyl is killing black people in Connecticut at the same rate as whites for the first time since state officials began tracking the epidemic around 2012, a CT Mirror analysis has found. There is no clear consensus among experts in Connecticut as to what is driving up the death rate among African Americans. (Carlesso and Kara, 4/4)
