Washington Sues J&J for Its Role as Opioid API Supplier

The state of Washington kicked off the year by becoming the latest state to sue Johnson & Johnson for allegedly fueling the opioid crisis.

The state’s attorney general Bob Ferguson filed the complaint in a Washington state court, accusing J&J and its subsidiary Janssen of playing a “unique role in expanding the opioids market” as both an API supplier and a manufacturer of opioids — becoming the top supplier of opioid APIs including oxycodone and hydrocodone to other drugmakers by 2015.

The suit also takes aim at Janssen for making false claims about the risk of addiction associated with its opioid products and for pushing the concept of “pseudo addiction,” the idea that what appeared to be addiction was actually undertreated pain that needed to be treated with heavier opioid doses.