Comments on: Oklahoma judge orders J&J to pay state $572 million over opioid sales https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/08/oklahoma-judge-orders-jj-to-pay-state-572-million-over-opioid-sales/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Thu, 12 Sep 2019 09:57:45 +0000 hourly 1 By: “That huge opioid verdict? Watch out — the energy industry is next” | Overlawyered https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/08/oklahoma-judge-orders-jj-to-pay-state-572-million-over-opioid-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-356003 Thu, 12 Sep 2019 09:57:45 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=73538#comment-356003 […] caused harm after being used by third parties not in court? Before such theories succeeded in an Oklahoma courtroom against Johnson & Johnson over its promotion of opioid painkillers, they had been […]

]]> By: Opioids verdict: is Oklahoma AG sure he’s got the right Johnson defendant? | Overlawyered https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/08/oklahoma-judge-orders-jj-to-pay-state-572-million-over-opioid-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-355936 Mon, 02 Sep 2019 17:49:55 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=73538#comment-355936 […] Wax company, it kind of makes my point about the demagogic populism fueling these cases. [earlier] And maybe also my point about how the private trial lawyers on contingency fee, whose expectation […]

]]> By: Walter Olson https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/08/oklahoma-judge-orders-jj-to-pay-state-572-million-over-opioid-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-355929 Sun, 01 Sep 2019 22:43:18 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=73538#comment-355929 In reply to Nicolas Martin.

Not sure which “libertarianish think tanks” this is meant as a swipe at. Cato has not been shy about publishing on the subject:

https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-daily-podcast/pharmaceutical-freedom-why-patients-have-right-self-medicate

It is true that this particular blog, that is to say Overlawyered, often advances utilitarian arguments and legal analysis based on precedent and existing jurisprudence. That is to be expected in a blog about litigation, so far as I can see. That goes especially when the topic is one like the proposed expansion of public nuisance law, which is full of implications for fields other than that of (self-) medication and trade in pharmaceuticals.

If Overlawyered’s focus leaves you unsatisfied, you might want to try our sister Cato site Libertarianism.org, where you may find a greater share of arguments deriving from inherent rights and natural law:

https://www.libertarianism.org/encyclopedia/drug-prohibition

]]> By: Steve https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/08/oklahoma-judge-orders-jj-to-pay-state-572-million-over-opioid-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-355924 Sun, 01 Sep 2019 19:48:42 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=73538#comment-355924 In reply to MattS.

Huh. I had no idea they made anything besides baby products… I guess that bogus baby powder case was against them too?

]]> By: Nicolas Martin https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/08/oklahoma-judge-orders-jj-to-pay-state-572-million-over-opioid-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-355923 Sun, 01 Sep 2019 18:17:03 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=73538#comment-355923 If the libertarianish think tanks weren’t so timid, they would aggressively argue for restoration of the right to self-medicate. Instead, they dabble in bland utilitarianism wrapped in legalism. (No part of America is more overlawyered than the libertarian part.) The most important libertarian defense of self-medication, Szasz’s Our Right to Drugs, was not published by a think tank, unsurprisingly. Even fairly purist defenders of drugs, like Reason, use the language of the prohibitionist, such as drug “dealer.” If you ceded the language, you lose the battle.

]]> By: New Cato podcast on the J&J opioids nuisance case | Overlawyered https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/08/oklahoma-judge-orders-jj-to-pay-state-572-million-over-opioid-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-355890 Sat, 31 Aug 2019 15:13:18 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=73538#comment-355890 […] discuss this week’s Oklahoma verdict here, and have also added it to yesterday’s longer post on the […]

]]> By: MattS https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/08/oklahoma-judge-orders-jj-to-pay-state-572-million-over-opioid-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-355879 Sat, 31 Aug 2019 02:16:58 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=73538#comment-355879 In reply to Steve.

Yes, J&J has been in pharmaceuticals for 130 years. The general public may know them best for baby shampoo, but they’ve been a drug company a lot longer. They also manufacture medical devices.

]]> By: Steve https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/08/oklahoma-judge-orders-jj-to-pay-state-572-million-over-opioid-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-355867 Fri, 30 Aug 2019 19:46:36 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=73538#comment-355867 The baby shampoo company makes opiods? Really?

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