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Article snippet: A judge’s ruling on Monday that Johnson & Johnson caused an opioid epidemic in Oklahoma is a good sign for other cities and states suing drugmakers over their alleged role in the crisis. The groundbreaking ruling could be a harbinger of things to come in other cases where localities are trying to extract billions of dollars from drug companies to pay for addiction treatment and other services for victims. It could also pressure drug companies involved in 2,000 lawsuits to settle out of court, deferring lengthily legal battles in the process. “Any way you slice it, yesterday’s judgment is a landmark judgement,” said Leslie Kendrick, the vice dean of the University of Virginia’s School of Law. “A judgment like this in the short-term gives defendants incentive to settle. They’ve now seen you can have a big judgment like this, and this case was before a judge, not a jury. You might see bigger numbers before a jury,” Kendrick said. Judge Thad Balkman of Cleveland County District Court ruled Johnson & Johnson “caused an opioid crisis" in Oklahoma, ordering the multibillion-dollar company to pay the state $572 million. The ruling could signal to other companies that they face an uphill battle in avoiding liability as it relates to the opioid crisis, which killed 400,000 people from 1999 to 2017. About 2,000 cities, counties and Native American tribes are also suing drug manufacturers and distributors, including Johnson & Johnson and Purdue Pharma, claiming t... Link to the full article to read more