profits. leaving a deadly and destructive path of addiction in its wake. what we show during our seven week trial, and what the judge confirmed today, is what we know now for certain. johnson & johnson was the kingpin behind the nation s ongoing opioid crisis. as you said, the drugmaker immediately said that it would appeal that ruling. lawyers representing johnson & johnson all along argue their company did not cause the opioid crisis, saying it in fact followed the u.s. food and drug administration and the drug enforcement agency s own guidelines back in 2009 when it came to the marketing of opioids. the decision violates well-established constitutional principles, including due process of law. at bottom, the decision is fundamentally unfair.
market in oklahoma. the fda has approved the drugs and the warnings on the packages. these drugs are still legal there in oklahoma. with that in mind, johnson & johnson clearly is saying that they are not the right target. this was an improper ruling. they are not going to settle. which i think is what a lot of people thought might happen as a result of this verdict. they said they will appeal it. how do you think this plays out in light of these facts? i think we will be very aggressive because we believe the companies dramatically underplayed the addictive tendencies of these products. there are misrepresentations that we believe we will be able to prove in court. once again, that represents one piece of the equation. not the entirety of it. johnson & johnson is a very large player. purdue pharma, there are a lot of companies. i want to make sure that we have our day in court, as well. west virginia has really been hit very hard by this opioid crisis. our goal is to hold everyone r
harder for them to run based on the way they ve been attacked. kennedy: you were fantastic. thank you, robert wolf. back on the couch at noon tomorrow. here s shannon and for harris. shannon: we begin this hour with a fox news alert. drugmaker johnson & johnson going to appeal after being slapped with more than half a billion dollars in penalties for its role in the opioid crisis. this is outnumbered overtime. i m shannon bream in for harris faulkner. an oklahoma judge finding johnson & johnson liable for stoking the opioid crisis in the state and ordering the company to pay $572 million. the bombshell ruling being watched closely as 2,000 other pending lawsuits are set to be heard. an attorney for the drugmaker slamming the decision. we are disappointed and disagree with the judges decision. we believe it is flawed. johnson & johnson did not cause
now, this was the nation s first civil case holding a pharmaceutical company partially accountable for the addiction to opioids. of course, as you said, it sets this legal precedent now for all of the other pending cases against other opioid manufacturers and distributors, like cvs, walgreens, and walmarts. shannon? s? shannon: casey stegall in dallas, thank you several states have been hurt dominic hit hard by this crisis, including west virginia, which has the nation s highest death rate from opioid overdoses. joining us now, west virginia, west virginia attorney general patrick morrissey company just days ago filed lawsuits against opioid makers, including johnson & johnson. mr. attorney general, thanks for your time today. thanks for having me, i appreciate it. if you want to have to ask about this editorial board piece today in the wall street journal, calling this a shakedown. that the way the public nuisance law was used here versus product liability raises questions abou
the opioid abuse crisis. we have many strong grounds for appeal, and we intend to pursue those vigorously. shannon: casey stegall is live in dallas with the latest. hey, casey. a, shannon. a landmark case on several levels not only did this judge in oklahoma rule against pharmaceutical giant johnson & johnson. he went on to say that he found there was in fact this evidence to suggest that the drugmaker helped fuel the state s opioid epidemic. the attorney general of oklahoma says this verdict means his team was successful in proving how johnson & johnson used pseudoscience and deceptive marketing practices downplaying how addictive prescription painkillers were, and furthermore pushing doctors to prescribe more just to boost