NEW JERSEY: Drugmakers including Johnson & Johnson have denied claims they helped fuel the deadly opioid epidemic in the United States through deceptive marketing that downplayed addiction risks, as the trial in a lawsuit filed by several municipalities got underway.

J&J, Teva, Endo and Allergan are accused of trivializing the dangers of long-term use of opioid painkillers to boost sales in a lawsuit filed by three California counties and the city of Oakland. The trial began on Monday.