Johnson & Johnson Left As Sole Defendant In High-Profile Oklahoma Trial Over Drugmakers’ Role In Opioid Epidemic

The Associated Press: Spotlight On Oklahoma For Start Of Trial For Opioid Makers
Oklahoma is poised to become the first state to go to trial in a lawsuit against the makers of pharmaceuticals blamed for contributing to the nation's opioid crisis. Although several states have reached settlements with drugmakers, including Oklahoma's agreements this year with OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma and Teva Pharmaceuticals, the trial set to begin Tuesday against consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson and some of its subsidiaries, could bring to light documents and testimony that show what companies knew, when they knew it and how they responded. (5/27)

The New York Times: First Opioid Trial Takes Aim At Johnson & Johnson
Oklahoma, a largely rural state whose medical, social welfare and criminal justice systems have been ravaged by opioid addictions and deaths, has “home court advantage,” Ms. Burch said. But the case is hardly a slam-dunk. The challenge in all opioid cases is how to closely tie each defendant to the carnage. In its attempt to frame that narrative, Oklahoma is relying on just one legal theory, which itself has an uneven record. (Hoffman, 5/26)

The Wall Street Journal: First Big Trial In Opioid Crisis Set To Kick Off In Oklahoma
The case is the first to go to trial of around 2,000 lawsuits brought by states, local municipalities and Native American tribes against pharmaceutical companies over their alleged role in fueling the opioid epidemic. The outcome is likely to help shape the sprawling litigation nationwide, as both sides look for a win to use as leverage in broader settlement talks. Cameras televising the action will heighten national attention on the courtroom in the college town of Norman, Okla. (Randazzo, 5/27)

Politico: Nation's First Opioid Trial Could Set Precedent For Massive Pharma Payouts
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter stressed that the settlement was the best option because of the threat that Purdue would declare bankruptcy and the state might end up with nothing. But that means Oklahoma’s attorneys will have to make the potentially trickier case that other, less notorious players in the opioid pipeline created a “public nuisance” in the state by pushing misleading medical claims. (Demko, 5/28)

Kaiser Health News: Oklahoma’s ‘Precedent-Setting’ Suit Puts Opioid Drugmakers On Trial
The legal case is complicated. Unlike tobacco, where states won a landmark settlement, Ausness pointed out that opioids serve a medical purpose. “There’s nothing wrong with producing opioids. It’s regulated and approved by the Federal Drug Administration, the sale is overseen by the Drug Enforcement Administration, so there’s a great deal of regulation in the production and distribution and sale of opioid products,” Ausness said. “They are useful products, so this is not a situation where the product is defective in some way.” (Fortier, 5/28)

The Washington Post: Drug Company To Face First Opioid Trial In Oklahoma As Families Of The Dead Seek Recompense
Gail Box will be following the trial closely, but she won’t be at the courthouse in Norman, the city where she last spent time with her son Austin in May 2011, when he graduated from the University of Oklahoma. Five days later, he was unconscious in a hospital after an overdose, with five different prescription painkillers and an anti-anxiety drug in his bloodstream. He died the same day. He was 22 years old. “I just cannot go there,” she said of the town where her son played middle linebacker for the Sooners. “It is too painful for me to go there.” (Bernstein, 5/27)

WBUR: Cities And States Look To Big Pharma To Cover Costs Of The Opioid Epidemic
As pharmaceutical companies prepare to square off with states and local communities in courts around the U.S., a growing number of state and local officials say the industry should pay to cover the cost of the nation's deadly opioid epidemic. ...A first test case begins this week in Oklahoma, a trial that will test the limits of the drug industry's liability. (Mann, 5/27)

The Wall Street Journal: In Newly Released Deposition, OxyContin Owner Defends Response To Reports Of Abuse
Richard Sackler, an owner of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP, received an email from a friend in 2002 detailing what the friend called some “items of interest.” The friend, an anesthesiologist, mentioned that his local pharmacy had spent $12,000 on remodeling to increase security because of OxyContin, the powerful opioid painkiller. The friend recounted that he had recently spoken to a student at an exclusive private high school who said someone had tried to sell her the “designer drug” OxyContin in the campus halls. “I hate to say this, but you could become the Pablo Escobar of the new millennium,” the friend wrote, referring to the Colombian drug lord. (Randazzo, 5/25)

The Washington Post: Oklahoma, Teva Pharmaceuticals Reach $85 Million Settlement In Opioid Case
The state of Oklahoma settled Sunday with a second drug company over its role in the deadly opioid epidemic, reaching an $85 million agreement with Teva Pharmaceuticals just two days before a landmark trial is scheduled to begin. The deal leaves Oklahoma to face off in court Tuesday against Johnson & Johnson, one of the nation’s large pharmaceutical companies, in the first state trial over culpability for the drug crisis. (Bernstein, 5/26)

Stat: Teva Reaches $85 Million Settlement On Eve Of Opioid Trial In Oklahoma
The agreement, which must still be finalized, was announced on Sunday, just two days before a trial is scheduled to get underway. However, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said the trial will continue as planned against Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which faces the same claims. Several weeks ago, Purdue Pharma agreed to pay $270 million to settle allegations by the state. In a statement, Teva maintained that the settlement does not establish any wrongdoing by the company and continued to insist Teva “has not contributed to the abuse of opioids in Oklahoma in any way.” (Silverman, 5/26)

Bloomberg: Teva's Oklahoma Opioid Accord Leaves J&J As Last Man Standing 
“J&J is probably feeling pretty lonely right now as the Oklahoma case gets ready to go,” Jean Eggen, a law professor at Widener University’s Delaware Law School who teaches about mass torts. “Being left as the only defendant in one of these high-profile cases is a really ugly position to be in.” (Feeley and Melin, 5/26)

NPR: Some Communities Pin Hopes For Funds On The Coming Opioid Lawsuits
As pharmaceutical companies prepare to square off with states and local communities in courts around the U.S., a growing number of state and local officials say the industry should pay to cover the cost of the nation's deadly opioid epidemic. "I think they are as complicit in this as the dealers that are dealing on the streets and for that I think they should pay a price," says Gerald Craig, executive director of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board in Summit County, Ohio. That county is involved in a lawsuit against drugmakers that's slated to go to trial later this year. (Mann, 5/27)

NPR: Opioid Addiction: FDA May Keep New Medication Off Market Over Legal Quirk
More than 130 people in the U.S. die of an opioid overdose every day. One of the most effective ways to save lives is to get those struggling with addiction treated with medication to stop their cravings. But a loophole in federal law might block at least one new opioid-addiction drug from coming to market for years. Many patients have to try several medications before finding one that works for them and that they can stick with. (Kodjak, 5/24)