Oklahoma, Johnson & Johnson face off in first opioid crisis trial

Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson is set to face trial in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit by the state of Oklahoma aimed at pinning the blame for the opioid epidemic on its painkiller marketing. Lawyers for the state and J&J are scheduled to appear on Tuesday in a state court in Norman, Oklahoma, to deliver their opening statements at the start of the first trial to result from more than 2,000 similar lawsuits against opioid manufacturers nationally. The lawsuits by state and local governments seek to hold the J&J and other companies responsible for a drug abuse epidemic that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says led to a record 47,600 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2017.

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