J&J’s Oklahoma Opioid Fight Hinges on ‘Small’ Market Share

The term “drug kingpin” usually brings to mind cartel leaders with gun-toting subordinates. But the state of Oklahoma uses the term to describe Johnson & Johnson in the context of the opioid addiction crisis. The company denies culpability and points out that it has a less than 1% share of the market in that state.

Millions at Stake: The other opioid makers who were sued by Oklahoma reached settlements under which they’ll collectively pay hundreds of millions of dollars. J&J’s market share was not large, but it supplied the active ingredients that others used to manufacture their products, the attorney ...