An Oklahoma judge on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay over $572 million for pushing doctors to prescribe opioids while downplaying the risks of addiction, actions that state prosecutors said helped fuel the state's opioid epidemic andled to more than 6,000 deaths over nearly two decades.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter claimed in court that the sales push by Johnson & Johnson and its pharmaceutical subsidiary, Janssen, starting in the 1990s had created “a public nuisance” that led to the deaths.

Johnson & Johnson will be forced to pay more than a half-billion dollars in damages after an Oklahoma judge on Monday ruled the drug maker accountable for fueling the state’s opioid epidemic, according to a report.

The pharmaceutical giant will be forced to pay the state of Oklahoma $572 million as part of the landmark case, which is the first in the US seeking to hold companies responsible for creating an oversupply of addictive painkillers, CNN reported.

Johnson & Johnson must pay $572 million for contributing to an opioid-addiction crisis in Oklahoma, a judge there ruled Monday in a closely watched trial.

The verdict comes in the first case to go to trial of more than 2,000 brought by state and local municipalities nationwide seeking to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable for widespread opioid abuse.