NORMAN, Okla. (Reuters) - An Oklahoma judge on Monday found Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) liable for fueling an opioid epidemic in the state by deceptively marketing addictive painkillers, and ordered the drugmaker to pay $572.1 million.
The award was well below what some investors and analysts feared, in what had been a $17 billion lawsuit viewed as a bellwether for other litigation nationwide over the opioid epidemic.
“The expectation was this was going to be a $1.5 billion to $2 billion fine,” said Jared Holz, healthcare strategist for Jefferies. “$572 million is a much lower number than had been feared.”
J&J shares rose 5% in extended trading following the decision. Shares of other drugmakers that sell opioid pain treatments, including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA) and Endo International Plc (ENDP.O), also rose after-hours.
Still, J&J said it would appeal, and seek to put payment of the award on hold during the appeal process.
“Janssen did not cause the opioid crisis in Oklahoma, and neither the facts nor the law support this outcome,” Michael Ullmann, J&J’s general counsel, said in a statement.
The decision by Judge Thad Balkman of Cleveland County District Court in Norman, Oklahoma, followed a seven-week, non-jury trial.
The case brought by Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter was the first to go to trial out of thousands of lawsuits filed by state and local governments against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
Oklahoma alleged that J&J’s marketing practices helped fuel the opioid epidemic by flooding the market with painkillers.
“Johnson & Johnson will finally be held accountable for thousands of deaths and addictions caused by their actions,” Hunter said.
Oklahoma sued J&J to help it address the epidemic for the next 30 years through
