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AN OKLAHOMA JUDGE today ordered US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for its role in fostering the state’s opioid addiction crisis.
In a landmark trial, Judge Thad Balkman said prosecutors had demonstrated that the company contributed to a “public nuisance” in its deceptive promotion of highly addictive prescription painkillers.
“Those actions compromised the health and safety of thousands of Oklahomans,” he said.
In the first civil trial of a drugmaker over an epidemic that has caused hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths, Judge Thad Balkman said prosecutors had demonstrated that Johnson & Johnson contributed to a “public nuisance” in its deceptive promotion of highly addictive prescription painkillers.
“Those actions compromised the health and safety of thousands of Oklahomans,” he said.
According to the ruling, which also cites the company’s former Janssen pharmaceuticals division, the cash will go towards care for a generation of addicts, families and communities affected by the crisis.
“The defendants Janssen and Johnson & Johnson’s misleading marketing and promotion of opioids created a nuisance,” Balkman said.
“Specifically, defendants caused an opioid crisis that is evidenced by increased rates of addiction, overdose deaths and neonatal abstinence syndrome in Oklahoma.”
Johnson & Johnson was the first pharmaceutical company tried over the US opioid crisis, which fueled over 70,000 overdose deaths in 2017 alone.
Prosecutors had sought $17 billion in damages.
Johnson & Johnson argued that the law was being inappropriately applied and that its products had a very small role in the addiction epidemic in Oklahoma and nationally.
Balkman said Johnson & Johnson had promoted its drugs telling doctors and patients that pain was not being treated enough and that “there was a low risk of abuse and a low danger” in the drugs themselves.
“The defendants used the phrase ‘pseudoaddiction’ to convince doctors that patients who exhibited signs of addiction… were not actually suffering from addiction, but from the undertreatment of pain,” he said in his decision.
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A drop in the ocean for them.
@tottkingham: The price of q-tips and baby shampoo and dozens of other products will go up; _that_ is why It’s a drop in the ocean for them.
I was prescribed opioids years ago for back pain after a car crash and it kills me to admit it but I’m a functioning opioid addict. From Tramadol to OxyContin. I just can’t go through the cold turkey that comes with the withdrawals even though I’ve gotten clean twice before. There’s nothing to help come off them except methadone and I’d rather slit my own wrists than take that road. I just can’t see where it’s going to end as I’ve almost overdosed (unintentionally) quite a few times and I’ve got a young family which makes me resent myself even more.
@Brendan Boyle: Brendan I’m sorry to hear about your situation. I understand why you wouldn’t want to treat your addiction with methadone but I would urge you to look in to Suboxone treatment, which is specifically recommended for treatment of codeine and other pharmaceutical dependencies. Suboxone is the brand name, buprenorphine / naloxone are the active compounds.
Remember that treatment and recovery from any kind of addiction is very difficult for anyone to do cold turkey, and that some form of complementary therapy can help to provide support with the process. (Cognitive behavioural therapy, coping skills, relapse prevention etc.) Aside from the chemical, we can develop a psychological dependency too and we need to rewire ourselves to deal with that.
I would speak to your GP, or a different GP if you felt more comfortable, about your issue and see what your options are and specifically mention the Suboxone. I hope this helps.
@Jill House: Great advice Jill, fair play. Hope you get out the other side, Brendan.
@Brendan Boyle: Ever hear of ibogaine treatment?
@Brendan Boyle: Have you had a look into ibogaine. Might be worth a look. Or Kratom.
@Brendan Boyle: I hope you manage it, best of luck, that’s a tough situation.
@Brendan Boyle: your not alone Brendan, I went through the same 2 years ago after a multi level discectomy and 4 point vertebrae fusion.
They hand the pills out like sweets, then expect you to sort yourself out when you no longer need them. Coming off the drugs was worse than the pain itself.
I hadn’t smoked cannabis in almost ten years, but it was the only thing that helped me through my withdrawal, and while my GP didn’t condone it, he recommended low dosage muscle relaxants in tandem with my cannabis consumption. I haven’t touched a tablet since December 2017…..
Then addiction to heroin follows when access to these drugs is restricted. Delighted with this judgement and hopefully more to follow in other jurisdictions. Big pharma deals in death and in its recklessness they are no different to heroin dealers.
Rem reading about an addict on the journal here. Products are over the counter still here. They buy the product with codeine but take massive quantities of tablets once the addiction starts.
Need Make codeine products prescription only. Australia and others already have done lethal situation.
@Albert Brennerman: it’s illegal in Greece
One of many many companies who would trade you for 10 quid or get you hooked for everything you own for the rest of your life. It’s the hidden casino of life.
May the orchestrators pay for fuel in hell.
So they knew they had cancer causing chemicals in a product and said nowt and now this. I won’t be using any of their products on my little baba anyway. Says a lot about the company.
@Fandandi: Media only reported the large court order payouts administered but none reported that each and every single one of those cases was appealed and won by J&J. They haven’t accepted any liability or haven’t paid out a cent in compensation. They seem to have a fairly confident and competent legal team and I expect this ruling will also be appealed and thrown out also.
Why do people buy the products if they know they can become addicted?
@Henry Gaynor: to get treatment for horrible crippling pain? According to this article and the trial judgment it was the company deliberately playing down any addictions. I mean with your arguement why should anyone have a drink knowing you could potentially become an alcoholic?
@Henry Gaynor: Because, as the article said, the pharmaceutical companies often mislead the public into believing they won’t become addicted. Addiction is covered under abuse, and Johnson & Johnson were found guilty of specifically stating that there was a low chance of abuse occurring by using these products. Doctors are not chemists, and they can only operate under the guidance of the professional advice given by the manufacturers of these products. To then suggest that people should know better is to suggest they should not follow their doctor’s advice, which is based on the pharmaceutical companies’ advice. It’s not a great message to send out that people should ignore doctors. The companies need to be held accountable.
@Henry Gaynor: I know you’re anti-drugs, and that’s your prerogative, however don’t let it cloud your judgement. The opioid crisis in the US is not about people wanting to get high recreationally; it’s far more complex.
@Henry Gaynor: because these drugs are the only effective treatment for chronic pain.
@Henry Gaynor: have you ever had chronic pain?
@Henry Gaynor: what a simple happy life you must lead.
@Henry Gaynor: Because their doctors who they trust prescribe them. They’re not told by the doctor they’re dicing with something as dangerous as heroin. The doctors weren’t told by the pharma rep. Hence the lawsuit.
@Henry Gaynor: I know people who take codeine tablets to give them a boost to keep going for eighteen hours a day; it has nothing to do with pain. I know people who take some of these products to get over an alcoholic hangover; again this has nothing to do with pain. They are addicted to using opioids to help them be superhuman i.e. they want to burn the candles at both ends indefinitely. Two of these people I know have damaged their livers as a result of not heeding advice to stop taking the drugs and slow down.
@Jane: How can the body heal itself if it doesn’t feel pain? When the body is hurt, it sends out a message as pain so it can start curing itself. If that message is masked by painkillers, it cannot begin to cure itself because it is fooled into thinking nothing is wrong. It has worked for me with back injury (11 months), two dislocated fingers (8 weeks and counting, nearly there), and post oral surgery. I see pain as a cure to be endured.
@Henry Gaynor: These are prescription drugs, nothing to do with your anecdote about codeine.
@Niamh Kenneally: Codeine is available over the counter and on prescription for stronger doses.
@Henry Gaynor: again, your ignorance with anecdotes about codeine, have very little if anything to do with the subject matter.
Half the worlds adult population probably uses a codeine based painkiller/cough suppressant at some stage in their life. (probably)
What exactly is your point??
@Nigel Mcatamney: As I wrote in my post, using codeine as an energy booster or hangover cure is not killing pain, so it is a deliberate misuse of the drugs by those who use them for those and other purposes. Personal responsibility comes into play here.
@Henry Gaynor: Just read the leaflet that comes with Oxycontin. Says quite clearly you can become addicted to it and may become dependant on it. What part of this statement do ye not understand?
J&J strikes again.
Owch
What about other pharmaceutical drugs that are ruining people’s lives through addiction?
Lyrica is prescribed for everything from depression to a sore ankle, highly addictive and being sold on the street as a recreational drug.
There needs to be a Science based approach to ALL drugs, many pharmaceutical drugs need to be severely restricted or banned, some illegal drugs need to be legalised.
The system we have is not based on logic or potential harm, it should be..
Johnson and Johnson Talc Powder has been proven to cause Cancer also, Google it guys…
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