On August 26, 2019, it was announced by an Oklahoma judge that Johnson & Johnson is ordered to pay $572,102,028 of the asking $17 billion to help the crisis and the recovery of Opioid addicts in the state.
The state argued that J & J marketed opioid drugs to doctor’s offices knowing their addictiveness and the risk of addiction. Opioids are marketed to physicians by pharmaceuticals companies often showing up before they open giving out free trials and samples and offering incentives for the purchase and push of the prescription pills.
According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 70,237 deaths were reported in 2017 due to overdosing. It is only imagined what that number is today.