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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
POST-VERDICT – With a $572 million bench verdict in Oklahoma against Johnson & Johnson opioid maker Janssen Pharmaceuticals, pro-business groups are taking issue with the legal basis for the state’s win and fretting over its impact, should the judgment stand. Amanda Bronstad reports that the outcome of closely-watched trial, which has preceded an MDL trial in October with more than 20 defendants, has defense groups worried about expanding the public nuisance doctrine, the basis for liability found by Oklahoma Judge Thad Balkman. Such an interpretation of public nuisance means “almost any industry could be the target of large-scale litigation,” said Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform.
