Drug Distributors and J.&J. Announce $26 Billion Deal to End Opioids Lawsuits
Source: New York Times
After two years of wrangling, the countrys three major drug distributors and a pharmaceutical giant have reached a $26 billion deal with states that would release some of the biggest companies in the industry from all legal liability in the opioid epidemic. The announcement was made Wednesday afternoon by a bipartisan group of state attorneys general. The offer will now go out to every state and municipality in the country for approval.
If enough of them formally sign on to it, billions of dollars from the companies could begin to be released to help communities pay for addiction treatment and prevention services and other steep financial costs of the epidemic. In return, the states and cities would drop thousands of lawsuits against the companies and pledge not to bring any future action. The settlement binds only these four companies the drug distributors Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, and Johnson & Johnson leaving thousands of other lawsuits against many other pharmaceutical defendants, including manufacturers and drugstore chains, in the mammoth nationwide litigation still unresolved.
But these four companies are widely seen as among the defendants with the deepest pockets. In an emailed statement, Michael Ullmann, executive vice president and general counsel of Johnson & Johnson, said: We recognize the opioid crisis is a tremendously complex public health issue, and we have deep sympathy for everyone affected. This settlement will directly support state and local efforts to make meaningful progress in addressing the opioid crisis in the United States.
In a joint statement, the three distributors said: While the companies strongly dispute the allegations made in these lawsuits, they believe the proposed settlement agreement and settlement process it establishes are important steps toward achieving broad resolution of governmental opioid claims and delivering meaningful relief to communities across the United States. The distributors, which by law are supposed to monitor quantities of prescription drug shipments, have been accused of turning a blind eye for two decades while pharmacies across the country ordered millions of pills for their communities.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/21/health/opioids-distributors-settlement.html
cstanleytech
(26,236 posts)bucket in the profit the companies made in selling the stuff in the first place nor will it approach the amount of money that it will truly take to clean up the mess?
abqtommy
(14,118 posts)they should.
Eugene
(61,818 posts)Source: Associated Press
July 21, 2021
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Wednesday said he has formally rejected the states proposed part of a $26 billion settlement with the nations three largest drug distribution companies and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson related to the opioid addiction and overdose crisis.
Under the settlement proposal, the companies that distributed opioids would pay Washington an estimated total of $527.5 million over 18 years if all of the states cities and counties opt in and release any current or future claims, Ferguson said in a news release Wednesday. But if some cities opt out, the state and participating municipalities would lose up to 50% of the payment, he said.
The settlement consists of two separate agreements with opioid distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, and Johnson & Johnson.
The settlement is, to be blunt, not nearly good enough for Washington, Ferguson said. It stretches woefully insufficient funds into small payments over nearly 20 years, to be shared among more than 300 Washington jurisdictions.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-health-government-and-politics-washington-opioids-386fa9d659647a718c7261b4a8b2948b
cstanleytech
(26,236 posts)in on the drugs they pushed.