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Monday, July 15, 2019

State AG News

State AG

Janssen says addicts would have struggled to snort its opioids; Nucynta broke coffee grinder during testing

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – A former researcher with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the drug subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, on Friday said the company’s opioid products were safe if used properly, while attorneys hired by Oklahoma alleged J&J had played loose with the facts.

By John Sammon | Jul 1, 2019

State AG

Proposed opioid 'negotiation class' is unnecessary and likely to fail, former negotiator says

CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - A proposed opioid “negotiation class” that would include more than 24,000 U.S. cities and counties is a waste of judicial resources unlikely to achieve its stated goal of hammering out a global settlement, say critics, including a former Connecticut official who was directly involved in negotiations with the opioid industry.

By Daniel Fisher | Jul 1, 2019

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State AG

J&J says it wasn't given chance to prepare for witness called by Oklahoma in opioid trial

By John Sammon | Jul 1, 2019

NORMAN, Okla, (Legal Newsline) – Attorneys for Johnson & Johnson and its opioid drug manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceutics on June 19 asked Cleveland Country District Court Judge Thad Balkman to decide if the testimony of a Connecticut businessman who founded a nonprofit to fight drug abuse should be allowed as evidence in a trial accusing the companies of creating a drug epidemic.

State AG

Janssen defense witness at Oklahoma trial: Opioid drugs safe, effective when used properly

By John Sammon | Jul 1, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – An opioid researcher called as a defense expert witness told a courtroom that the opioid medication Duragesic produced by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because the benefits of the drug outweighed the risk.

State AG

J&J points to small number of claims for its opioid products as it defends self in Okla. trial

By John Sammon | Jun 27, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) - Attorneys defending Johnson & Johnson made a case on Wednesday that drug abusers and irresponsible doctors share responsibility for an opioid overdose epidemic, while a top state health official repeated her opinion that overzealous J&J officials and sales reps were to blame.

State AG

Okla. health official takes stand in opioid trial, says she doesn't remember the year J&J's unbranded marketing began

By John Sammon | Jun 26, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – Oklahoma's top health officer told a courtroom on Tuesday that Johnson & Johnson preyed on the state’s citizens to sell opioid prescription drugs for profit, while attorneys for the company challenged the timeline in her head.

State AG

J&J wonders why it should foot bill for addicts who never used its opioids

By John Sammon | Jun 25, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – The attorney for Johnson & Johnson and its drug subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals on Monday attempted to convince an Oklahoma judge that making the companies pay for a drug crisis, including addicts who never used their products or who used illegal drugs, is unfair.

State AG

Oklahoma governor, AG resolve dispute over where $85M from opioid settlement should go

By John Sammon | Jun 25, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – An Oklahoma judge announced on Monday agreement has been reached between feuding government officials on how an $85 million settlement with opioid drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical Co. would be apportioned.

State AG

At Okla. opioid trial, mental health officer walks court through the proposed massive abatement plan

By John Sammon | Jun 24, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – An idea of how much money Oklahoma wants to abate the opioid drug epidemic was realized on Friday as a state health officer walked officials through a 65-page list of abatement services she said were needed, collectively projected to cost in the billions.

State AG

There are bigger problems than PFAS, group for clean water says as Senate attempts regulation

By John O'Brien | Jun 24, 2019

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Last week, a U.S. Senate committee strengthened one of the many bills that attempt to regulate chemicals known as PFAS, as critics continue to fight the idea that enough is known about them to pass legislation.

State AG

Oklahoma's case against J&J includes video of baby quivering from opioid withdrawal

By John Sammon | Jun 20, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – The State of Oklahoma's evidence in a closely watched opioid trial versus Johnson & Johnson was again emotionally charged on Wednesday, as attorneys hired by the state attorney general showed a video of a baby quivering from opioid withdrawal.

State AG

Oklahoma's case turns emotional in opioid trial vs. Johnson & Johnson

By John Sammon | Jun 19, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – A Connecticut businessman recounting the heartbreak of his son’s death from drug addiction on Tuesday outlined steps to end the stigma of the disease and to make treatment improvements in a trial to determine if Johnson & Johnson helped cause a prescription opioid epidemic.

State AG

Is Congress' rush to regulate PFAS part of 'hysteria' fed by plaintiffs lawyers?

By John O'Brien | Jun 19, 2019

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – They have a catchy, sinister-sounding nickname and have caught the attention of lawyers and politicians. But what these “forever chemicals” don’t have is a known toxicity level.

State AG

At opioid trial, Johnson & Johnson moves to strike Oklahoma witness as 'de facto member of State's legal team'

By Dan Fisher | Jun 18, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) - Johnson & Johnson has asked the judge overseeing the first in an expected wave of trials against the opioid industry to strike the testimony of Dr. Andrew Kolodny, a psychiatrist who plays a central role in the State of Oklahoma’s case by linking narcotics marketing to opioid addiction and overdose deaths.

State AG

J&J's lawyers note opioids researcher being paid hundreds of thousands for testimony in Oklahoma trial

By John Sammon | Jun 18, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – Attorneys defending Johnson & Johnson on Monday fended off accusations their client caused an addiction crisis and shifted attention onto Purdue Pharma, while also noting a plaintiffs expert is being paid upward of $500,000 for his testimony.

State AG

Oklahoma's governor is worried AG Hunter won't turn $85M opioid settlement over to treasury

By John Sammon | Jun 18, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and two high-ranking lawmakers fear that funds from a recent opioid settlement won't head their way and are asking to intervene, claiming Attorney General Mike Hunter's recent $85 million agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical might violate a new state law.

State AG

Honolulu and D.C. could soon join global warming-litigation craze

By John Breslin | Jun 17, 2019

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Government officials in two more areas are believed to be considering suing fossil fuel companies in a bid to force them to pay towards the cost of mitigating the effects of climate change - even though the two biggest rulings in this litigation have been in favor of Big Oil.

State AG

Witness list offers a preview of arguments to come in Oklahoma's big opioid trial

By Kayla Elder | Jun 17, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – Not all named witnesses will be called to testify in the two-month-long trial that is beginning its fourth week in Cleveland County Court - a trial that pits the State of Oklahoma against Johnson & Johnson over the abatement of what Oklahoma calls a man-made opioid crisis - but 10 of the more than 160 listed overlap the sides.

State AG

Attorneys for J&J spar with opioids researcher over warning labels during Oklahoma trial

By John Sammon | Jun 17, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – Attorneys for Johnson & Johnson on Friday during questioning of a researcher called as a witness by the State attempted to establish that the company’s production of opioid drugs was a government-regulated process with detailed warnings of possible addiction provided.