The ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court that judges are not supposed to be legislators should come as a surprise to no one. The only thing that should be surprising is that the court had to make the ruling in the first place. This ruling comes as the United States hit a disturbing milestone in the opioid epidemic as overdose deaths in 2021 topped 100,000 for the first time in history. But the increase in opioid overdose deaths is primarily due to use of heroin and illegal synthetic fentanyl. Using public nuisance theory to impose liability on pharmaceutical companies for illegal drug use does not make sense.
But the Oklahoma Attorney General, backed by plaintiffs’ trial lawyers seeking a big attorney fees payout, convinced an Oklahoma trial judge to take over the job of making policy for the state. They did so in a case against Johnson & Johnson, trying to hold the company liable for the entire opioid epidemic in the state — including legal and illegal drug use. The plaintiffs’ attorneys argued, and the trial court ruled, that Johnson & Johnson could be held liable for all of the state’s opioid problems. The Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected this theory as nonsense.
Read Full Article »