SAN FRANCISCO: Four drugmakers, including Johnson & Johnson, went on trial Monday over claims they helped fuel the deadly opioid epidemic in the United States through deceptive marketing that downplayed the risks of addiction.
J&J, Teva, Endo and Allergan are accused of trivializing the dangers of long-term use of opioid painkillers to boost sales in a lawsuit filed by several California counties and the city of Oakland.
The complaint seeks billions of dollars in damages to abate the public nuisance it says the drugmakers created.
“Defendants prioritised profits over lives and deceived the public about the real dangers of opioids,” Santa Clara County attorney James Williams said in a…
