Johnson & Johnson JNJ and its prescription drugs unit are responsible for helping fuel Oklahoma's opioid drug problem, a judge ruled Monday, making the conglomerate the first to be held to blame by a court for the epidemic.
Judge Thad Balkman ordered the company to pay $572.1 million for its role in the problem, saying the state proved to him the company's marketing was misleading and "created a nuisance."
The case had been brought by Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter and was the first to go to trial out of thousands of lawsuits around the country against drug companies and distributors.
Johnson & Johnson was the only defendant in the case, which lasted nearly eight weeks, after other defendants settled.
Balkman called opioids an "imminent danger and menace to Oklahomans."
"The opioid crisis has ravaged the state of Oklahoma," he said. "It must be abated immediately."
Shares of Johnson & Johnson closed Monday at $127.80 and traded higher by 3.8% in the after-hours session. Investors may have expected the $572.1 million fine to be much higher.
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