The crowning achievement of Mike Hunter's reign as Attorney General has disintegrated into dust like his political career.
Yesterday afternoon, The Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned the historic ruling that required Johnson & Johnson to fork over $465-million for their role in getting white people hooked on opioid painkillers.
According to the court, the excuse Mike Hunter came up with to file the lawsuit – the company creating a "public nuisance" by getting everyone hooked on legal heroin – was legal hogwash.
Here are details via The New York Times:
Oklahoma’s highest court on Tuesday threw out a 2019 ruling that required Johnson & Johnson to pay the state $465 million for its role in the opioid epidemic. It was the second time this month that a court has invalidated a key legal strategy used by plaintiffs in thousands of cases attempting to hold the pharmaceutical industry responsible for the crisis.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court, 5-1, rejected the state’s argument that the company violated “public nuisance” laws by aggressively overstating the benefits of its prescription opioid painkillers and downplaying the dangers.
The ruling, along with a similar opinion by a California state judge on Nov. 1, could be a harbinger that plaintiffs’ hopes for favorable resolution in courts nationwide against opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers will be dashed. The decision could also embolden the companies to dig in.
That blows.