Nov 9 (Reuters) - The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a $465 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) in a lawsuit by the state alleging the drugmaker fueled the opioid epidemic through the deceptive marketing of painkillers.
The court on a 5-1 vote ruled that the state's public nuisance law does not extend to the manufacturing, marketing and sales of prescription opioids and that a trial judge went too far in holding the company liable under it.
"However grave the problem of opioid addition is in Oklahoma, public nuisance law does not provide a remedy for this harm," Justice James Winchester wrote.
The decision marked the latest setback for states and local governments pursuing lawsuits seeking to hold drug companies responsible for a drug abuse crisis the U.S. government says led to nearly 500,000 opioid overdose deaths over two decades.
The Oklahoma lawsuit was the first of the more than 3,000 cases against pharmaceutical manufacturers, drug distributors and pharmacies to go to trial.
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