public nuisance liability News

Ohio Jury Finds Major Pharmacy Chains Fueled Opioid Crisis

A Cleveland jury concluded Walmart Inc., CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. helped create a public-health crisis by failing to properly monitor opioid prescriptions, the drug industry’s latest loss in the expanding litigation over the painkillers. The federal-court …

Ruling in Opioid Marketing Case a Setback for States Arguing Public Nuisance

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a $465 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit by the state alleging the drugmaker fueled the opioid epidemic through the deceptive marketing of painkillers. The decision marked the latest setback …

Workers’ Lawsuit Against McDonald’s Seeks Safety Measures, Not Damages

As U.S. businesses reopen, worried workers and their advocates are borrowing a legal strategy commonly used to shut down rowdy topless bars to try and force employers to strengthen protection against further spread of the coronavirus. Workers and their families …

New York AG Tells Court Opioid Crisis Damage ‘Dwarfs’ Drugmakers’ Resources

The public cost of coping with the opioid crisis in the U.S. “dwarfs” the combined resources of the companies sued for allegedly causing the epidemic, including OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP, a lawyer for New York State told a judge. …

Why J&J Opioid Lawsuit Could Mean Real Culprits Are Let Off the Hook: Viewpoint

In 1977, after an electrical fire destroyed the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, killing 165 people, a plaintiffs’ lawyer named Stanley Chesley came up with a novel way to recover money for the families of the victims. The …

Other Opioid Lawsuit Plaintiffs Welcome Oklahoma Ruling Affirming Public Nuisance

While some Johnson & Johnson investors were relieved that the company’s $572 million penalty for fueling Oklahoma’s opioid epidemic wasn’t as high as feared, lawyers for other U.S. states, cities and counties could hardly contain their glee. That’s because the …

Major J&J Opioid Ruling Expected Monday Out of Oklahoma

An Oklahoma judge will rule on Monday on whether Johnson & Johnson should be held liable in a lawsuit by the state’s attorney general who argues the drugmaker should be forced to pay $17 billion for fueling the opioid epidemic. …

Closely-Watched Oklahoma Public Nuisance Case Over Opioids Now in Judge’s Hands

Oklahoma’s attorney general on Wednesday made his final bid to force Johnson & Johnson to pay $17 billion for its part in fueling the opioid epidemic, saying the drugmaker’s “egregious” marketing caused an oversupply of addictive drugs and overdose deaths. …

California Settles 19-Year Old Public Nuisance Claim Against Lead Paint Makers

When Californian counties and cities first sued paint makers in 2000, they wanted the companies to pay billions to remove dangerous old lead paint from hundreds of thousands of homes. After a 19-year legal struggle, they have finally succeeded in …

Doctor in Oklahoma Trial Says J&J Pushed Opioids Even After Abuse Became Known

Oklahoma’s star witness told a state judge that Johnson & Johnson pressed doctors to prescribe its painkillers even as the potentially fatal addictive threat posed by the drugs became clear more than a decade ago. The judge, Thad Balkman, is …