Drug maker stocks are pushing higher on a new California ruling.
- Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) is up about 10%
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) up about $4 a share
- Endo International (ENDP) is up about 7%
- AbbVie (ABBV) is up about $2.60
All after Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson issued a tentative ruling in favor of the drug makers in a $50 billion opioid case. The original suit accused the companies of causing or contributing to the opioid crisis with misleading marketing. It also argued the companies should have to pay $50 billion toward efforts to end the epidemic.
However, Judge Wilson rejected the claims and said the drug makers were not legally liable.
“There is simply no evidence to show that the rise in prescriptions was not the result of the medically appropriate provision of pain medications to patients in need,” Wilson said, as quoted by Barron’s. “The Court finds that Plaintiffs failed to prove an actionable public nuisance for which the defendants, of any of them, are legally liable.”
This is the first trial win for drug companies in the more than 3,300 lawsuits filed, says Reuters.
The Opioid Crisis Has Gotten Worse
It’ll be interesting to see what happens next – and how the U.S. plans to end the opioid issue.
At the moment, according to Time, U.S. opioid-related deaths were up by 30% in 2020 to 93,000. In Canada, deaths jumped 89% year over year.
Worse, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse:
- Roughly 21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them
- Between 8 and 12 percent of people using an opioid for chronic pain develop an opioid use disorder.
- An estimated 4 to 6 percent who misuse prescription opioids transition to heroin.
- About 80 percent of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids
Again, it’ll be interesting to see how the U.S. plans to deal with the issue.
The post Drug Maker Stocks Pop on Ruling from California Superior Court appeared first on Morningology.
