The healthcare industry has been going through some serious changes that have led to some serious questions for investors.

While the sector is growing and hungry for innovation, legal challenges and uncertainty over a few key factors has raised concerns.

Johnson and Johnson was just ordered to pay $572 million to the state of Oklahoma over a recent opioid case. The sum of the ruling fell far short of the $17 billion in penalties that the state was pushing for, but the fact that the state ruled against J&J in this case is an unfortunate headline for investors. J&J has become the first company to take a serious hit in this risk sector, but there are still plenty of investment opportunities in the less risky areas of the healthcare industry.

If you’re looking for good news or areas of investment opportunity in the healthcare sector, there is still good news going forward. 2018 was a busy year for hospital consolidation, which brought down costs for the biggest operators in the industry. There are still plenty of opportunities in big pharma, which has been pushing through some major M&A transactions. All of the current major trends in healthcare are pushing the market to a place where drugs are becoming cheaper for the industry leaders.

When it comes to private equity, the healthcare industry is still doing well. Healthcare companies across the industry are feeling the effects of consolidation and lower costs. Ultimately, there are some challenges for the healthcare industry to overcome, as always, but the big picture is one of consolidation, lower costs, and growth.