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AP California

WVa trial expert: Drug makers downplayed risks in marketing

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Published 1:28 PM

By LEAH WILLINGHAM
Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Lawyers for the state of West Virginia are concluding the first week of a trial against three major opioid makers. State attorneys have outlined how pharmaceutical companies rebranded the highly-addictive drugs in the early 2000s to expand their prescriber bases. The state claims the companies misled healthcare providers and patients about risks. Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc., AbbVie Inc.’s Allergan and their family of companies were sued by the state in 2019. Pharmaceutical marketing expert Matthew Perri described a “paradigm shift” during testimony where companies transitioned from marketing opioids as drugs designed for terminal cancer patients to drugs designed to treat long-term pain. 

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