Articles by Jef Feeley

Oklahoma Accuses J&J of Dodging Liability for ‘Cunning’ Opioid Drug Push

Even after illegally promoting opioid painkillers to reap billions of dollars in profit over the past two decades, Johnson & Johnson has accepted “zero responsibility” for its central role in fueling a public-health crisis, Oklahoma’s top law-enforcement official told a …

U.S. Opens Criminal Probe Into J&J Denials of Cancer Risks from Baby Powder

The U.S. Justice Department is pursuing a criminal investigation into whether Johnson & Johnson lied to the public about the possible cancer risks of its talcum powder, people with knowledge of the matter said. The criminal probe, which hasn’t been …

J&J Gets New Trial After Jury Awards $417 Million in Baby Powder Talc Suit

Johnson & Johnson deserves a new trial after a jury ordered the world’s largest maker of health-care products to pay $417 million to a woman who blamed the company’s iconic Baby Powder for causing her cancer, an appeals court concluded. …

Chemours Suit Claims DuPont’s Clean-Up Liability Estimates ‘Spectacularly Wrong’

Chemours Co. claims its former parent DuPont Inc.’s estimates on liabilities the spun-off company should cover were “spectacularly wrong” and wants a judge to block the chemical maker’s requests for “unlimited indemnity.” A Delaware judge on Friday unsealed a lawsuit …

Judge Open to ‘Novel’ Idea of Local Government Class for Opioid Settlement Talks

A judge backed a push by U.S. cities and counties suing opioid makers such as Purdue Pharma LP and Johnson & Johnson to negotiate a settlement as a group but put off until August a final decision on the request. …

At Oklahoma Trial, J&J Opioid-Sales Tactics Called a ‘Smart Strategy for Drug Dealer’

Johnson & Johnson used promotional gimmicks for its opioid painkillers that are similar to how criminal drug dealers try to boost sales, a pharmaceutical-industry critic told a judge hearing Oklahoma’s claim that the company helped fuel a crisis of addiction. …

Jury Orders J&J, Colgate to Pay Almost $10 Million in Talc Case

Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive Co. must pay almost $10 million to a dying California woman who blamed the companies’ talc-based products for her rare cancer. The jury verdict in state court in Oakland is another setback for J&J, the …

Doctor in Oklahoma Trial Says J&J Pushed Opioids Even After Abuse Became Known

Oklahoma’s star witness told a state judge that Johnson & Johnson pressed doctors to prescribe its painkillers even as the potentially fatal addictive threat posed by the drugs became clear more than a decade ago. The judge, Thad Balkman, is …

Opioid Maker Insys Files for Bankruptcy in Wake of Bribery Convictions, Probe Settlement

Drugmaker Insys Therapeutics Inc., whose former executives were convicted of bribing doctors to prescribe its highly addictive opioid, filed for bankruptcy protection after agreeing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle a probe by U.S. prosecutors. The Chapter …

Insys Agrees to $225 Million Settlement of U.S. Claims of Illegal Opioid Sales

Insys Therapeutics Inc., grappling with the prospect of bankruptcy after its founder was convicted on racketeering charges, agreed to pay $225 million to settle U.S. claims that the drug maker illegally sold opioid-based painkillers. Under terms of the deal, Insys …