New York charges Johnson & Johnson with insurance fraud over opioid claims

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York state filed civil charges on Thursday accusing Johnson & Johnson of insurance fraud for downplaying the risks of opioid painkillers, including to elderly patients.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said the charges by New York’s Department of Financial Services in that regulator’s opioid industry probe follow charges against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd , Allergan Plc, Endo International Plc and Mallinckrodt Plc .

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)