Oklahoma asks court: Make J&J pay $9.3B to end opioid crisis

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma has asked the state Supreme Court to order Johnson & Johnson to pay more than $9.3 billion to cover the anticipated cost of combatting the state’s opioid crisis, arguing in its appeal that a lower court’s award wasn’t enough.

Attorney General Mike Hunter made the request on Monday. He says a court’s order last year that the pharmaceutical giant pay $465 million for its part in the oversupply of painkillers would be sufficient to cover only one year of the state’s abatement plan. The Oklahoman reports that Hunter contends the district judge erred because the crisis will take 20 years to abate, costing $465 million every year.