|
 The move by Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter came ahead of an
upcoming May 28 trial, the first in the United States to result from
roughly 2,000 lawsuits seeking to hold manufacturers of painkillers
responsible for contributing to the epidemic.
Opioids were involved in a record 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017 in
the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Hunter dropped the claims after announcing last week that OxyContin
maker Purdue Pharma LP had along with the wealthy Sackler family who
own it reached a $270 million settlement.
The 2017 lawsuit accused the three companies of engaging in
deceptive marketing that downplayed the addiction risk from opioids
while overstating their benefits. The Sacklers were not defendants
in the case. The companies deny wrongdoing.
Hunter said he would continue to bring a public nuisance claim
against J&J and Teva but was dropping five other claims, including
that they violated the Oklahoma Medicaid False Claims Act.
Hunter said dropping those claims would not impact the amount of
damages the state is seeking. Hunter had been asking for more than
$20 billion before Purdue's settlement.
J&J in a statement said the state's decision to drop most of its
claims "underscores their lack of merit." It said the evidence at
trial will show that the company appropriately marketed its pain
medications.
[to top of second column] |
Teva did not respond to a request for comment.
Hunter said the decision to refocus the case around the single claim
that the companies caused a public nuisance that needs remediated
will obviate efforts by the companies to delay the upcoming trial.
It will also transform what was to be a televised jury trial into a
non-jury one in which a state court judge will decide the case,
Hunter said.
"The team and I remain laser focused on the goal we set since filing
this lawsuit: holding those responsible for creating this crisis
accountable and bring an end to the opioid epidemic in Oklahoma,"
Hunter said.
More than 1,600 other opioid-related lawsuits are consolidated
before a federal judge in Ohio, who has pushed for a settlement
ahead of the trial before him in October. Other cases, including
Oklahoma's, are pending in state courts.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Noeleen Walder and
James Dalgleish)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
