Oklahoma files suit against three major opioid distributors

January 13, 2020 at 2:19 p.m. EST

In an opioid case both sides have appealed, Oklahoma Judge Thad Balkman last year ruled against Johnson & Johnson, ordering it to pay $465 million. (Pool/Reuters)

The state of Oklahoma, which last year won a court verdict against opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, filed suit Monday against three mammoth drug distributors, accusing them of contributing to the drug crisis by indiscriminately sending billions of painkillers across the country.

Oklahoma State Attorney General Mike Hunter (R) said the three companies — McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen — delivered more than 34 billion doses of narcotics to Oklahoma and the rest of the United States between 2006 and 2012, failing to halt plainly suspicious drug orders because they were making so much money.