Law Commons^™

Stretching The Law: The Application Of Public Nuisance To The Opioid Epidemic, Lindsay Manning, Hannah L. Thompson

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Opioid use in the United States increased five-fold in the last decade.

Every day ninety Americans die from drug abuse overdose. Is it

illegal opioid trafficking, or is it a problem within the medical profession?

Recent litigation strategies, like those used in the recent

landmark case of Oklahoma v. Johnson and Johnson, show that opioid

production and distribution are being linked to fueling the opioid

epidemic. Oklahoma is just one of the states that have concluded that

Johnson and Johnson, a large pharmaceutical company, is “overstating”

the efficiency of opioids and “understating” the harmful effects

of these drugs. Consequently, litigation …