Johnson & Johnson accused of 'cynical, deceitful' bid to drive up painkiller sales

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Johnson & Johnson accused of 'cynical, deceitful' bid to drive up painkiller sales

● Drug giant accused of deceptive marketing conspiracy
● Civil suit says J&J was ‘kingpin’ of public health emergency

Chris McGreal in Norman, Oklahoma
Tue 28 May 2019 17.02 BST First published on Tue 28 May 2019 13.36 BST

Johnson & Johnson, one of the world’s largest drug companies, has been accused of “a cynical, deceitful multimillion-dollar brainwashing campaign” to drive up sales of its powerful painkillers at the opening of the first trial of a pharmaceutical giant over the US opioid epidemic.

Oklahoma’s attorney general, Mike Hunter, told the civil trial, which opened on Tuesday, that Johnson & Johnson played a leading role in “the worst manmade health crisis in the history of the country and the state”.

“How did it happen?” Hunter asked. “Greed.”

The corporation’s trial is a closely watched test case over the extent of big pharma’s responsibility for the opioid drug crisis.

The New Jersey-based firm, better known around the globe for baby powder and shampoo, is fighting allegations by the state of Oklahoma that it conspired with other drug makers to market opioids deceptively by downplaying the significant risk of addiction and by pressuring doctors to prescribe narcotic painkillers, including to children.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/28/johnson-johnson-opioid-trial-oklahoma

[nitpicker]

1. Link to DW

https://www.dw.com/en/landmark-us-opioid-trial-begins-in-oklahoma/a-48943650