Judge Makes Big Decimal Point Error in Opioid Ruling

Oklahoma's Thad Balkman was off by $107M or so
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 17, 2019 10:49 AM CDT
Judge Makes Big Decimal Point Error in Opioid Ruling
Judge Thad Balkman listens during a hearing in a Johnson and Johnson opioid lawsuit case on Tuesday in Norman, Okla.   (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

A judge in Oklahoma has admitted a major calculating error in the $572 million penalty applied to pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson for its role in the state's opioid crisis. "That's the last time I use that calculator," Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman said Tuesday, per CNN, acknowledging that he'd allocated $107,683,000 to help treat infants who are born addicted to opioids as part of the August verdict, rather than the $107,683 he'd intended. "The correction will be reflected in a final order that he issues at a later date," reports CBS News. Johnson & Johnson, which had called out the "mistaken addition of three zeros," plans to appeal regardless of the final figure. (More Oklahoma stories.)

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