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Pharmaceutical producer Johnson & Johnson, and three major drug distributors announced Friday, they will move forward with a multi-billion-dollar payout to settle numerous lawsuits filed by state and local governments over the effects of the opioid crisis. File Photo by LizM/Pixabay
Feb. 25 (UPI) — Pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, and major drug distributors announced Friday, they will collectively move forward with a $26 billion settlement related to lawsuits filed against them over the opioid crisis.
Distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson issued a joint statement saying there was enough buy-in from the plaintiffs to settle the majority of the opioid lawsuits.
Johnson & Johnson confirmed separately that “there is sufficient level of participation to move forward with the nationwide settlement agreement to resolve opioid-related claims and litigation by states, cities, counties, and other subdivisions in the United States.”
State and local governments have sued the four companies over the deadly impact the spread of opioid use has had across the United States.
The settlement is designed to support state and local efforts in the fight against the opioid crisis.
Under the terms of the agreement, Johnson & Jonson will contribute up to $5 billion to the nationwide settlement.
AmerisourceBergen will pay $6.1 billion, Cardinal Health will pay $6.0 billion, and McKesson $7.4 billion.
The first payments are currently in escrow and expected to be issued in early April. Payments from the drug distributors will be issued annually over a period of 18 years. Johnson & Johnson’s payments will be processed annually over nine years.
A portion of the settlement dedicated to covering legal fees will be paid out over seven years.
The companies do not admit any liability or wrongdoing under the settlement.
“The company will continue to defend against any litigation that this final settlement agreement does not resolve,” said the statement from Johnson & Johnson, which decided to stop selling prescription opioids in the United States in 2020.
In their statement, the distributors say they “continue to strongly dispute the allegations made against them.”
Legal action against the four companies is not entirely over.
“The states of Alabama, Oklahoma and Washington chose not to participate in the settlement. The state of West Virginia previously settled with the companies, and its subdivisions are not part of this settlement,” reads the joint statement from the three distributors.
In early February, the same four companies reached a $590 million settlement with more than 400 Native American tribes.
More than 500,000 Americans have died from overdoses to prescription and illegal street opioids since 1999.