VANCOUVER—A winning U.S. court case holding an opioid manufacturer responsible for its role in the opioid overdose crisis has put a smile on the face of B.C.’s Attorney General, who is suing the same company in a separate lawsuit.

On Monday a judge in Oklahoma found Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries helped fuel the state’s opioid crisis, and ordered the consumer products giant to pay the state $572 million.

“We are aware of the verdict in Oklahoma and are pleased with the findings of the court with regard to Johnson & Johnson’s role in the opioid crisis in that jurisdiction,” said B.C. Attorney General David Eby in a statement.

Last year the B.C. government filed a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers.

“The lawsuit we launched in 2018 holds pharmaceutical companies similarly accountable for the harm they have done to British Columbians and for the financial burdens they have placed on our health care system.”

The case in B.C. is still making its way through the courts, and the allegations levelled at roughly 40 companies including Johnson & Johnson have not been proven in Canadian courts.

Meanwhile, a class action lawyer in Vancouver who is familiar with the cases said it’s “encouraging” news for B.C.’s own lawsuit against the company.

The ruling does not set a legal precedent in Canada, however it proves that a government can succeed in holding a large company responsible for its role in the opioid crisis, said lawyer David Klein.

“It’s an encouraging development for all other governments that are seeking to hold opioid manufacturers accountable for the crisis that was (and is) rampant.”

Klein, who is not directly involved with these cases, emphasized that although the U.S. ruling brings hope for accountability, “it doesn’t mean that now all of a sudden Canadian judges are going to make the same ruling.”

“This was one state, against one manufacturer, a single judge whose decision will go to the court of appeal, but it shows that it is a winnable case.”

Oklahoma state lawyers argued the companies and their subsidiaries created a public nuisance by launching an aggressive and misleading marketing campaign that overstated how effective the drugs were for treating chronic pain and understated the risk of addiction.

In the B.C. lawsuit, Eby alleges the companies engaged in “corporate corruption and negligence,” and claims they misled health professionals and patients by marketing opioids as less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications.

B.C. declared a health emergency over its overdose crisis in April 2016 and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control said in June that overdose deaths remain the leading cause of preventable death in the province.

During the first nine months of 2018, the Public Health Agency reported 3,286 Canadians lost their lives to apparent opioid-related overdoses, bringing the total to more than 10,300 between January 2016 and September 2018.

In the U.S., the lawyers for Johnson & Johnson have maintained the company was part of a lawful and heavily regulated industry subject to strict federal oversight, and that Monday’s lawsuit awarding money to Oklahoma was a misapplication of public nuisance law.

Sabrina Strong, an attorney for Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries, said the companies have sympathy for those who suffer from substance abuse but called the judge’s decision “flawed.”

“You can’t sue your way out of the opioid abuse crisis,” Strong said. “Litigation is not the answer.”

From Klein’s perspective in Canada, the ruling in the U.S. in which the government won, indicates to the companies that going to trial is risky, and means they might choose to settle in similar lawsuits in Canada.

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“It just shows that there is a liability risk on the opioid manufacturers and there is some indication that some of them might be wiling to resolve this litigation through settlement in stead of trial,” Klein said.

Resolving through settlement is beneficial, Klein said, because it guarantees the government walks away with money in its pocket.

With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press

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