Opioids: State Attorney General Marketing Enforcement Under Attack?

November has been an active month in the years-long litigation of opioid manufacturers — and it hasn't been good for the theories put forth by Attorneys General and local governments.  On November 1, Orange County Judge Peter Wilson, in litigation brought by Orange, Santa Clara, and Los Angeles Counties, along with the City of Oakland, ruled completely in favor of the defendants, several opioid manufacturers.  And then on November 9, the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned the $475 million verdict against opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.  Does this signal a weakening of state and local government authority to pursue these actions?  Not likely.

It's important to take a step back and look at the underlying theories of these cases.  While the thousands of governmental actions have been brought to address a public health crisis, at their core the actions against opioid manufacturers are largely based on theories that are marketing/advertising claims.  In essence,