The agreement is with pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical companies AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson have agreed to pay about $26 billion in settlements. In total, more than $50 billion was allocated to settle a series of lawsuits aimed at holding companies accountable for their failure to stop the distribution and abuse of prescription drugs in the 2000s and 2010s.
In recent years, the drug crisis has become more and more serious. Synthetic drugs, primarily illicit fentanyl, were manufactured in secret labs in Mexico and smuggled into the United States with devastating consequences. Federal officials estimate that more than 109,000 people will die from drug overdoses in 2022, most of them linked to opioids.
More than 3,400 government agencies, including nearly every state, as well as counties, cities and other local entities, have joined the latest settlement proposals that were finalized this week. The allocation of funds was calculated by population adjusted for the effects of the crisis.
Aside from the broader nationwide settlement, lawyers also entered New Mexico on Friday as a settlement to a lawsuit filed by Walgreens during a two-month jury trial late last year over lax oversight of opioid prescriptions. announced that it had agreed to pay $500 million. The same lawsuit resulted in a $274 million settlement from Albertsons, CVS, Kroger and Walmart.
The state attorney general said the latest settlement money will begin to flow later this year. Illinois is receive $518 million, Minnesota $208 million, Over Nebraska $65 million, all spread over 15 years.
Under an agreement reached by a panel of plaintiffs’ attorneys and state attorneys general, at least 85% of the money must go to defuse the drug crisis. Companies need to change practices to protect the public, such as adopting strict monitoring systems for pharmacies so they can flag suspicious orders that could divert pills to the black market.
In a news release, Teva announced that opioid lawsuits with all 50 states and 99 percent of other governments have been resolved.
“While the final agreement does not contain any admission of wrongdoing, entering into this settlement and continuing our focus on the patients Teva serves every day is important to the company and the impact of the opioid crisis. It remains in the best interest of those who receive it,” the company said.
Pensacola, Fla., attorney Peter J. Moosey, who was part of the team leading the complex settlement negotiations, said the money was “a desperate need, not a compensation for hundreds of thousands of opioid deaths over the past 20 years.” It’s going to throw a lifeline,” he said. It can also lead to future addiction problems. “
While strategies and program implementation vary from state to state, elected officials, public health officials and addiction experts believe that the national opioid settlement fund will help their communities address the ongoing crisis. said he expects
These approaches include stockpiling the opioid antidote naloxone and undertaking grassroots ‘harm reduction’. group It is intended to minimize the effects of drugs on the user.Settlement money will also be used to pay for fentanyl consciousness Campaign and equip the police technology to combat drug trafficking. Rhode Island has allocated funding to establish “overdose prevention centers” where users can take drugs under the supervision of staff trained to prevent overdoses, but the initiative has met resistance across the country. It is
Teva, signed another contract He will be in talks with the state of Nevada this week ahead of the trial and will pay the state $193 million over 20 years. The company said it plans to expand shipments of a generic version of Narcan, an overdose control spray, to states.
In Kentucky, where more than 2,200 people died from overdoses in 2021, the states will collectively receive about $840 million in settlements. State commissions have already awarded more than $8 million to organizations working to reduce the harm caused by opioids and to organizations dedicated to addiction treatment and recovery.One proposal will pay for plant research Ibogainemay be used in psychedelic-assisted therapy to curb addiction.
Mike O’Connell, county attorney for Jefferson County, Kentucky, which includes Louisville, said the funds could also be used to help those affected. Fighting addiction has put a roof over their heads.
O’Connell, who lost his 33-year-old son Matt in an accident, said he would not be surprised if some of this money was used for affordable housing aimed at helping addicts. Overdose in 2014.
Domestic litigation with other defendants is ongoing. Tribal states have reached their own settlements with pharmaceutical companies, although some lawsuits are ongoing. The Cherokee Nation this week sued drug distributor Morris & Dixon over its role in Oklahoma’s opioid crisis. The company is also facing revocation of its license to distribute a controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
