An Orange County judge finalized his decision Tuesday and granted a win to major drugmakers accused of causing an opioid epidemic in California, delivering a blow to four communities that represented the people of the state during a monthslong trial.
An Orange County judge finalized his decision Tuesday and granted a win to major drugmakers accused of causing an opioid epidemic in California, delivering a blow to four communities that represented the people of the state during a monthslong trial.
Opioid makers' win Monday in a California trial marked the first successful defense against a novel legal theory being used in courts nationwide and was the product of a defense strategy to keep a California judge's attention narrowly focused on the facts, lawyers for Endo told Law360.
In a ruling issued late Monday, state superior court Judge Peter J. Wilson found the companies, including Johnson & Johnson, aren t "legally liable" for the opioid crisis.
After seven years of litigation and four months of trial, a California judge pressed local governments Thursday for concrete evidence that opioid marketing by major drugmakers was accompanied by a surge of improper prescribing, potentially signaling trouble for the $50 billion case.