The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed a $465 million opioid judgment, concluding a district judge “went too far” in holding drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson liable under the state’s public nuisance law.

The decision is another big win for Johnson & Johnson, which scored a tentative decision last week in another public nuisance case over the opioid crisis in California. Unlike the California case, Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, were the only defendants in the Oklahoma bench trial that ended in 2019 with the judgment, which would have set up an abatement fund to address the state’s opioid crisis.

Judge Thad Balkman. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]