The $572 million fine Johnson & Johnson has to pay for its role in the opioid epidemic is only 4% of its annual profit

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The $572 million fine Johnson & Johnson has to pay for its role in the opioid epidemic is only 4% of its annual profit

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  • On Monday, an Oklahoma judge ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for fueling the opioid crisis in that state.
  • The suit was one of thousands filed against drugmakers across the country, and the fine was much lower than experts estimated.
  • The punishment will no doubt feel like a slap on the wrist for the company, since it only amounts to nearly 4% of their 2018 net profit.
  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The $572 million in damages that an Oklahoma judge ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay on Monday for its role in the state's opioid crisis will most likely feel like a slap on the wrist for the major conglomerate.

The fine amounts to just 3.7% of the company's net profit for 2018, according to SEC filings.

In fact, the press around the fine seems to have had a positive effect on the company. After the fine was announced on Monday, J&J stock actually rose more than 5% in aftermarket trading.

Judge Thad Balkman of the Cleveland County District Court in Norman, Oklahoma, sided with the state's attorney general, Mike Hunter, who argued that Johnson & Johnson's marketing practices fueled the opioid epidemic by flooding the market with painkillers.

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FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2018 file photo, Christine Gagnon, of Southington, Conn., holds a sign during a protest with others who have lost loved ones to OxyContin and opioid overdoses, outside the Purdue Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Conn. Gagnon lost her son Michael 13 months earlier. Nearly ten years ago, the blockbuster painkiller OxyContin was reformulated to discourage abuse by snorting and injecting, but it's unclear whether the harder-to-abuse format has decreased cases of addiction, overdose and death. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

Read more: Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson was just ordered to pay $572 million for its role in the opioid epidemic

The company said in a statement to Business Insider that it plans to appeal the judgement.

Hunter had wanted Johnson & Johnson to pay more than $17 billion to help the state address the epidemic for the next 30 years, through addiction treatment and prevention programs.

The amount the company was actually fined will cover the state's plan to fight the epidemic for one year.

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Johnson & Johnson produces the painkillers Duragesic and Nucynta.

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