NBC News is reporting Johnson & Johnson has been hit with a $572 million penalty for its part in the Oklahoma opioid epidemic which caused more than 6,000 deaths.
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter claimed in court that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its pharmaceutical subsidiary, Janssen, marketed opioids to doctors while downplaying the risks of the addictive painkillers since the 1990s.
The state claimed that the company’s sales push created “a public nuisance” that led to more than 6,000 deaths in Oklahoma over nearly two decades.
J&J has denied any wrongdoing and its attorney, John Sparks, disputed the application of the public nuisance law made by Oklahoma prosecutors. Sparks said the state was misinterpreting the law, having previously limited it to disputes involving property or public spaces.
Oklahoma had asked for $17.2 billion in its lawsuit.