Opioid trial verdict coming Monday

NORMAN — A verdict will be announced 3 p.m. Monday in Oklahoma's multibillion dollar lawsuit against opioid manufacturer Johnson& Johnson and affiliated drug com panies, Cleveland County District J udge Thad Bal kman r e veal e d Wednesday.

Balkman, who presided over the nonjury trial, plans to announce his verdict in open court.

Oklahoma experienced more than 6,100 prescription opioid-related deaths from 2000-2017.

Over the course of a month and a half long trial, witnesses for the state blamed Johnson & Johnson and other opioid makers for causing the opioid epidemic by waging f al se and deceptive marketing campaigns that understated the addictive and overdose risks of opioid painkillers while overstating their therapeutic benefits.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter alleges the actions

of Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries created a public nuisance. The state has asked the judge to order the companies to pay the state $17.17 billion to help abate the crisis over 30 years.

Johnson& Johnson has denied wrongdoing or financial responsibility.

Witnesses for the drug companies testified that the risks associated with opioids, including the risks of addiction and death, were clearly pointed out in federal Food and Drug Administration labeling instructions that were required to accompany every prescription.

Attorneys for the drug companies argued that despite the risks doctors continued to prescribe opioids because leaving pain untreated also carries risks, including diminished quality of life, loss of function, depression and even suicide.

The verdict will be closely watched nationally because hundreds of similar lawsuits are currently pending, includi ng more t han 1 , 700 cases that have been consolidated in a major federal court action pending in Ohio.

Oklahoma's lawsuit originally named two other groups of pharmaceutical companies as additional defendants, but they were dropped from the lawsuit after they approved settlement agreement with the state. A group headed by Purdue Pharma agreed to pay $270 million, while a group headed by Te va Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., agreed to pay $85 million.