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Political Cartoon: The no-tears Johnson & Johnson opioid settlement

Daily takes from Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Signe Wilkinson.

An Oklahoma judge ruled on Aug. 26 that drugmaker Johnson & Johnson must pay $572 million to Oklahoma for deceptively marketing painkillers and so contributing to the opioid crisis.
An Oklahoma judge ruled on Aug. 26 that drugmaker Johnson & Johnson must pay $572 million to Oklahoma for deceptively marketing painkillers and so contributing to the opioid crisis.Read moreSigne Wilkinson

I’m from a Johnson & Johnson family. Thanks to a relative who worked there, we had a cabinet full of J&J products with labels in Korean, Spanish, Russian and languages I couldn’t identify. Some of the expiration dates were a little iffy but my kids had clean hair, powdered butts and booboos covered in bandaid adhesive strips (BandAids was a copyrighted term not to be used lightly according to our relative) in many shades. By quick and forthright honesty, the company sailed through a 1992 crisis over deaths caused by a someone lacing extra-strength Tylenol with cyanide.

Now, the company is facing a $572 million fine in Oklahoma for its part in the opioid crisis. While its stock went up the day after the verdict, analysts say the company’s reputation is taking a hit from this and other recent problems. And, no matter the fine, contributing to this country’s opioid problem isn’t good for any company’s reputation.

Editorial cartoons from this week include:

  1. Ecological hot potato

  2. Hong Kongers voting with their feet

  3. Sexual Harassment? Call the cops!

  4. For more editorial cartoons, visit inquirer.com/opinion/cartoons/.