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“The First Amendment does not protect Defendants’ messages which were misleading in that they were told by their own experts that marketing opioids on their abuse potential was dangerous and that Purdue had already shown that such a message was prone to mislead. They were told that the data they cited did not support their claims before they made them, and then again by the FDA after they had already started spreading that misleading message,” the ruling states. “They knew the studies they were citing were incomplete, unsound, or fraught with misrepresentations. The Defendants’ sales reps delivered those messages, and as the call notes and the sales trends demonstrate, Oklahoma physicians were influenced by the misleading messages Defendants were delivering.”

Addiction Treatment Services- $232,947,710

Addiction Treatment- Supplementary Services- $31,796,011

Public medication and disposal program- $139,883

Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment- $56,857,054

Pain prevention and non-opioid pain management therapies- $103,277,835

Naloxone distribution and overdose prevention education – $1,585,797

Medical Case Management/Consulting – $3,953,832

NAS treatment evaluating standards – $107,683,000

Developing NAS – $181,983

Universal screenign for pregnant women – $1,969,000

Treatment for infants born with NAS or opioid withdrawal – $20,608,847

Policy & Legislative Development and Tracking – $11,101,076.

NORMAN, Okla. – Weeks after testimony ended in a historic bench trial, an Oklahoma judge has reached an opinion in the case. On Monday, Judge Thad Balkman ruled in favor of the state, saying that Johnson & Johnson’s actions compromised the health of thousands of Oklahomans. According to the ruling, Balkman found that the “Defendants engaged in false and misleading marketing of both their drugs and opioids generally; and (b) this conduct constitutes a public nuisance under extant Oklahoma law.” His order also states that Johnson &Johnson’s practices were not protected by the First Amendment.The judge ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay the State of Oklahoma $572 million as part of an abatement plan. The abatement plan is as follows:

“Today is a major victory for the state of Oklahoma, the nation and everyone who has lost a loved one because of an opioid overdose,” Attorney General Hunter said. “Judge Balkman has affirmed our position that Johnson & Johnson maliciously and diabolically created the opioid epidemic in our state. Our evidence convincingly showed that this company did not just lie and mislead, they colluded with other companies en route to the deadliest manmade epidemic our nation has ever seen. When deaths and sales of the drugs began to skyrocket in tandem, the company repeatedly ignored the problem and built its billion-dollar brand out of greed and on the backs of the pain and suffering of Oklahomans. It is my hope that this judgment will provide some solace to the thousands of families, who have tragically lost a loved one due to an opioid overdose. It should also inspire a sense of optimism in those still struggling with an opioid addiction because we remain committed to abating the crisis, thus bringing about a brighter future for those suffering and our state.”

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