SC Johnson, an American manufacturer of household cleaning products, has spoken out after its tagline was incorrectly associated with FMCG giant Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) at the the first trial over the US opioid epidemic.
SC Johnson’s SVP Kelly Semrau said Oklahoma attorney general Mike Hunter incorrectly associated a “critical part:” of the company’s trademark tagline, ‘A Family Company,’ when referencing Johnson & Johnson in the case.
“SC Johnson is a separate, privately-held company and has never had any family or business connection with Johnson & Johnson. SC Johnson does not manufacture or sell pharmaceutical products. The comment does a disservice to the goodwill earned by generations of SC Johnson people and our iconic brands.”
At the opening of the trial Hunter said J&J used a “cynical, deceitful multimillion-dollar brainwashing campaign” to drive up sales of its powerful painkillers, and played a leading role in “the worst manmade health crisis in the history of the country and the state,” The Guardian reported.
The opioid crisis has claimed thousands of lives and the company may face billions dollars penalties. There are 1600 similar lawsuits filed by US Government bodies.
Hunter told judge Thad Balkman, who is hearing the case without a jury in Norman, Oklahoma. J&J and Janssen should be ordered “to clean up the terrible mess they’ve left us”.
In court filings, J&J said its products of a fentanyl-based patch and an opioid pain-killing pill accounted for less than 1 per cent of the market for such medicines in the state. The company has since sold off or stopped marketing both products.
