“The decision, from Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman, is the first time that a trial court has held a drugmaker accountable for the nation’s opioid epidemic, which has contributed to the more than 700,000 drug overdose deaths in the US since 1999.” Vox: Judge orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $570 million for role in Oklahoma’s opioid epidemic.

+ While we’re finally beginning to litigate the earliest days of the opiate crisis, the fentanyl-fueled phase has taken the problem to a whole new level. And it’s arriving in your mailbox. WaPo: The flow of fentanyl: In the mail, over the border.