First civil trial set in Oklahoma against opioid supplier Johnson & Johnson

Did the people who brought you baby powder and baby shampoo also bring you the opioid crisis?

That will be the question before an Oklahoma judge starting Tuesday, as the first civil trial takes off on the long, nationwide runway of trials against prescription opioid manufacturers, distributors and sellers. Oklahoma is squaring off against Johnson & Johnson, which produces a fentanyl patch.

On Sunday, another defendant in the case, Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd., settled with Oklahoma for $85 million. In a statement, the company said, “The settlement does not establish any wrongdoing on the part of the company; Teva has not contributed to the abuse of opioids in Oklahoma in any way.”

There is great interest in the case, which originally included Purdue Pharma, and not only from lawyers in nearly 1,900 federal and state lawsuits who want to see how the evidence and legal strategies resonate.

“So much of the litigation has remained under seal or redacted that this will be the public’s first glimpse into Pandora’s box,” said Elizabeth Burch, a law professor at the University of Georgia who writes about mass torts.

While the state has not said how much it is seeking, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter has said that companies have caused opioid-related damages worth billions of dollars. But Purdue Pharma already settled with the state in March for $270 million. With the company that has become embedded in the public’s mind as an archvillain gone from the proceedings and Teva also out of the case, the question is whether Hunter be able to stick Johnson & Johnson with the rest of the bill.

Oklahoma, a largely rural state whose medical, social welfare and criminal justice systems have been ravaged by opioid addictions and deaths, has “home court advantage,” Burch said.

But the case is hardly a...