“J&J had no control of its products through the multiple levels of distribution, including after it sold the opioids to distributors and wholesalers, which were then disbursed to pharmacies, hospitals, and physicians’ offices, and then prescribed by doctors to patients.
The absence of J&J's oversight of its products was a consequence of a complex distribution system that involved the sale of opioids to intermediaries, who then dispersed them to various healthcare facilities and medical practitioners, ultimately resulting in prescriptions being written for patients.