The judge who awarded a $465 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson allowed a “new species of super tort” in applying Oklahoma’s public nuisance law to the state’s opioid crisis, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a court filing this week.
The unprecedented finding, if upheld, would “devour all of Oklahoma tort law,” according to the Chamber and the American Tort Reform Association in a joint amicus brief filed on Tuesday before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which is reviewing the Nov. 15 judgment issued by Cleveland County District Court Judge Thad Balkman.
