Wash. Attorney General Sues J&J, Janssen Over Opioid Crisis

SEATTLE, Wash. — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has sued Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, accusing them of perpetuating the opioid epidemic by touting the potent painkillers as non-addictive and effective for treating chronic pain.

In a Jan. 2 complaint filed in the King County (Wash.) Superior Court, Ferguson says defendants — major suppliers of the raw materials needed to produce many opioid drugs — knew the pharmaceuticals were dangerously addictive yet marketed them to doctors as superior to alternative drugs at treating chronic non-cancer pain long-term.

According to the lawsuit, J&J and Janssen developed the Norman …