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Johnson and Johnson accused of 'deceptive' opioid marketing in lawsuit

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By John Glenday, Reporter

May 29, 2019 | 2 min read

Johnson & Johnson is bracing itself for a court case accusing it of fueling a US opioid epidemic. The state of Oklahoma brings the case, the first of around 2,000 such cases to be brought by public officials.

Johnson & Johnson

J&J accused of 'deceptive' marketing in multi-billion dollar lawsuit

The global drug manufacturer stands accused of acting as a ‘kingpin’ in the court filing. It claimed that the largest man-made public health crisis ever facing the state has been caused by J&J downplaying the risk of addiction in marketing materials relating to its painkillers - a charge strenuously denied by the pharmaceuticals giant.

America has been rocked by a spate of overdoses and deaths among former patients who found themselves addicted to opioid painkillers, with an estimated 130 people dying each day as a result.

The charges accuse Johnson & Johnson and others of leaning on doctors to prescribe a high-strength painkiller in the form of a fentanyl patch, in the knowledge that they could be addictive, fueling an oversupply of the drug from the 1990s onwards.

Refuting these allegations Johnson & Johnson insists that its marketing did not differ materially from official statements produced by the US Food and Drug Administration, which averred that painkillers rarely led to addictions when properly managed.

The escalating public health emergency has prompted the likes of Facebook to promote awareness of the issue through campaigns such as 'Stop Opioid Silence'.

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