Associate Professor of Law Michelle Richards’ article “Pills, Public Nuisance, and Parens Patriae: Questioning the Property of the Posture of the Opioid Litigation” was recently cited by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in a case entitled State of Oklahoma v. Purdue Pharma, et al.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court cited Richards’ case history research on the doctrine of public nuisance and concluded that public nuisance theory was not an appropriate claim in a products liability action. Richards’ article was published in the January 2020 edition of Richmond’s Law Review.

The court set aside a $465 million judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in a public nuisance claim arising out of the opioid crisis.