Judge Denies Drug Makers' Motion, Opioid Trial Remains Scheduled For May 28

A judge has denied motions made by two drug manufacturers to throw out a state case involving the opioid crisis.

The state attorney general's office released a news release shortly after the decision. 

Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman denied the motion for both Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceuticals. 

Both companies argued the state's public nuisance law did not apply to the state's claim, and the state had no evidence the drug companies caused the opioid crisis in Oklahoma.

“The team and I appreciate Judge Balkman’s hard work in reviewing and ruling on defendants’ motions," Attorney General Mike Hunter said in a news release.  "Although we are only 16 days from beginning our trial, the parties remain bogged down in defendants’ voluminous pretrial motions. Nonetheless, the team is prepared for May 28 where we will show how these companies maliciously deceived Oklahoma doctors, patients and families, leading to the worst manmade disaster our state, and indeed, our country, has ever seen.”

The trial remains on the schedule for May 28.