Articles by Jef Feeley

Opioid Litigation Tests Public Nuisance Claim Theory

Determining who foots the bill for America’s growing opioid epidemic may depend on how well the state of Oklahoma deploys a high-risk legal strategy this week against Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. At least 42 states and …

Johnson & Johnson Hit with $25 Million Talc Verdict; Also Cleared by Another Jury

Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay at least $25 million to a woman who said she contracted a rare asbestos-related cancer through decades of daily use of J&J’s Baby Powder or its other talc product, Shower to Shower. The …

5 More States Sue Purdue Over OxyContin Marketing

Purdue Pharma LP and its billionaire owners are being sued by five more states alleging the company’s aggressive marketing of the OxyContin painkiller triggered a vast addiction epidemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the U.S. The …

J&J Strikes Out in Bid to Transfer State Talcum Suits to Federal Court

Johnson & Johnson failed to get 2,400 state-court cancer lawsuits tied to its baby powder immediately transferred to a federal court in Delaware, where it could forge a single defense strategy. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika in Wilmington dismissed J&J’s …

J&J Pinnacle Hip Lawsuits Settlement Said to Cost $1 Billion

Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay about $1 billion to resolve most lawsuits claiming it sold defective metal-on-metal hips that ultimately had to be removed, according to people with knowledge of the matter. With the agreement, J&J has now resolved …

More States Could Settle Opioid Suits in Wake of West Virginia’s McKesson Deal

McKesson Corp.’s settlement of an opioid lawsuit with West Virginia — the state with the highest U.S. rate of drug-overdose deaths — may encourage other states to seek quick cash to cope with the rising societal costs of addiction. West …

Jury Finds Insys Founder, Execs Guilty of Racketeering in Opioid Sales

Insys Therapeutics Inc. founder John Kapoor was convicted of a racketeering conspiracy that drove sales of a highly addictive opioid while contributing to a nationwide epidemic. Federal jurors in Boston found that Kapoor conspired with four other executives to bribe …

U.S. Charges New York Drug Firm Executives with Opioid Distribution Conspiracy

Federal prosecutors unveiled the first criminal charges against pharmaceutical executives for illegally diverting opioids, accusing the former chief executive officer and the head of compliance at a major U.S. drug distributor with a narcotics conspiracy. Laurence F. Doud III, who …

J&J Asks Federal Court to Assume Baby Powder Lawsuits from State Courts

Johnson & Johnson wants a federal judge to take over more than 2,000 baby-powder lawsuits it faces instead of allowing the cases to be heard by state-court juries, where the company has a mixed record. The world’s largest maker of …

Jury Sides with J&J in Latest Talcum-Cancer Claim

Johnson & Johnson won the latest trial over claims its iconic baby powder can cause cancer, as a jury in Long Beach, California, rejected a lawsuit brought by a 65-year-old retired teacher who claimed the product was contaminated with asbestos. …