Opioid epidemic expert discusses Johnson & Johnson's role in causing crisis
by Randy Ellis
Published: Tue, June 11, 2019 9:05 PM
NORMAN — Johnson & Johnson and groups that it funded have "contributed to a public health catastrophe" by repeatedly putting out materials that contained false and deceptive information, a nationally renowned expert on the crisis testified Tuesday.
Andrew Kolodny, a New York City doctor who has served as a policy adviser to Congress, testified that Johnson & Johnson repeatedly promoted the message that untreated pain was a major problem in the United States as the company sought to increase opioid sales.
The doctor took issue with use of the word "opiophobia" in some published documents to describe how an irrational fear of addiction could interfere with a doctor prescribing opioids for someone in need of pain management.
"There is nothing irrational about the fear of addiction," Kolodny said. He described opioids as a "highly dangerous drug."
Kolodny was equally incensed about articles that indicated patients who exhibited addictive behavior might be suffering from "pseudoaddiction."
"Pseudoaddiction" refers to patients who supposedly seek out more drugs because their pain is being undertreated and not because they are addicted.
Use of the term is dangerous because it encourages doctors to prescribe more opioids for a patient already showing signs of addiction. That can be lethal, Kolodny said.
While Purdue Pharma LP has often been nationally spotlighted for its role in causing this country's opioid epidemic, Johnson & Johnson has in some ways "been even worse," Kolodny said.
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Kolodny testified that Johnson & Johnson not only manufactured its own opioid products during the time period when the crisis escalated, but also provided much of the raw active ingredient for other companies' opioid products that were frequently abused.
On the flip side, Johnson & Johnson also provided the active ingredient for naloxone, which is used to revive people who overdose on opioids, and buprenorphine, which is used to treat opioid addiction, Kolodny said.
That put Johnson & Johnson in a position to profit both from drugs that cause addiction and death as well as drugs that treat addiction and overdose victims, he said.
Johnson & Johnson produced the active ingredients through subsidiaries Tasmanian Alkaloids and Noramco. Johnson & Johnson sold those subsidiaries in 2016.
Kolodny testified the opioid crisis began to skyrocket in the United States in 1996 after Johnson & Johnson developed a new strain of poppy with a high thebaine content and began to ramp up its production.
John Sparks, Oklahoma counsel for Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., disputed Kolodny's testimony Tuesday.
"The testimony of the state's witness, Dr. Kolodny, was filled with rampant speculation and conclusions not derived from facts," Sparks said. "His comments on the production of medical-grade pharmaceutical ingredients under the regulation and authorization of the DEA and FDA are offensive, sensationalist and baseless."
Attorney General Mike Hunter takes notes as he listens to the opening statements from the defense during opioid trial at the Cleveland County Courthouse in Norman, Okla. on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. The proceeding are the first public trial to emerge from roughly 2,000 U.S. lawsuits aimed at holding...
Attorney General Mike Hunter takes notes as he listens to the opening statements from the defense during opioid trial at the Cleveland County Courthouse in Norman, Okla. on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. The proceeding are the first public trial to emerge from roughly 2,000 U.S. lawsuits aimed at holding drug companies accountable for the nationÕs opioid crisis. [Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman]
Randy Ellis
For the past 30 years, staff writer Randy Ellis has exposed public corruption and government mismanagement in news articles. Ellis has investigated problems in Oklahoma's higher education institutions and wrote stories that ultimately led to two... Read more ›
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