OC judge rejects local governments’ claims in $50 billion lawsuit over the marketing of opioid painkillers

Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and different erstwhile opioid makers scored the pharmaceutical industry’s archetypal triumph successful the sprawling four-year litigation implicit the drugs, defeating a suit by local governments successful California that claimed they created a public-health situation done misleading marketing.

Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson successful Santa Ana connected Monday rejected claims that units of J&J, Teva, Endo International Plc and Abbvie Inc.’s Allergan Plc duped doctors and patients astir the addictiveness of opioid painkillers and created a alleged “public nuisance” tied to the medications. Officials successful Los Angeles, Santa Clara and Orange counties and the metropolis of Oakland sought arsenic overmuch arsenic $50 cardinal to beef up policing and attraction budges depleted by the epidemic.

It’s the archetypal clip a justice oregon assemblage has rejected claims by states oregon section governments that ex-opioid makers should beryllium held liable for the fallout from the U.S. opioid epidemic, which has claimed the lives of astir 500,000 Americans implicit the past 2 decades.

“The tribunal finds plaintiffs failed to beryllium an actionable nationalist nuisance for which the defendants are legally liable,” Wilson concluded successful a tentative ruling.

Lawyers for the section governments said they’ll inquire a California appeals tribunal to reappraisal the ruling.

“The radical of California volition person their accidental to prosecute justness connected entreaty and guarantee nary opioid shaper tin prosecute successful reckless firm practices that compromise nationalist wellness successful the authorities for their ain profit,” they said successful a statement.

J&J said it’s pleased Wilson recovered its Janssen unit’s opioid selling and promotion “were due and liable and did not origin immoderate nationalist nuisance,” according to a statement. John Hueston, a lawyer for Endo, said the justice decently recovered the institution “did not marque mendacious oregon misleading statements, and Endo’s lawful behaviour did not origin the wide nationalist nuisance astatine contented successful plaintiffs’ complaint.”

Teva besides praised the ruling, portion saying the institution recognizes that communities crossed the U.S. inactive endure from the fallout of the opioid epidemic and request help.

“A wide triumph for the galore patients successful the U.S. who endure from opioid addiction volition lone travel erstwhile broad settlements are finalized and resources are made disposable to each who request them,” the Israel-based drugmaker said successful a statement.

The ruling marks a turn-around for J&J, which faced an Oklahoma judge’s 2019 ruling it spawned a nationalist nuisance successful the authorities done its opioid marketing. The justice ordered the New Jersey-based drugmaker to wage $465 cardinal successful reimbursement for taxation dollars spent dealing with the societal ills tied to the epidemic. The ruling is inactive connected appeal.

While immoderate pharmaceutical manufacture players, specified arsenic J&J, moved to acceptable up planetary settlements of their opioid liabilities, the lawsuit brought by the California governments forwarded to a non-jury trial.

J&J and the 3 largest opioid distributors successful the U.S. person offered a $26 cardinal woody to hitch retired much than 4,000 lawsuits filed by states and municipalities. That accord has yet to beryllium finalized. Teva offered what it says is $23 cardinal worthy of opioid-treatment medications, a valuation disputed by galore states, cities and counties.

Lawyers for the section governments sought to transportation Wilson that opioid makers improperly flooded the authorities with 20 cardinal opioid dosages implicit the past 2 decades and duped doctors and consumers astir the addictive quality of the pills. That led to accrued dependence and overdoses and created a nationalist nuisance.

The justice said, however, that the governments’ grounds of a melodramatic summation successful opioid prescriptions wasn’t capable to conscionable California’s trial that a occupation tagged arsenic a nuisance is “substantial and unreasonable.” The municipalities didn’t nutrient grounds of “medically inappropriate” opioid prescriptions tied to the company’s allegedly deceptive marketing, Wilson said. He said the emergence could person been tied to due prescriptions for patients successful pain.

“The tribunal cannot reason an summation successful medically due prescriptions tin beryllium a ground for nationalist nuisance liability, adjacent if undesirable consequences follow,” the justice wrote successful the 42-page decision.