From [HERE] The nation’s three biggest opioid distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson reached a $26 billion settlement to resolve thousands of lawsuits over the opioid epidemic, a crisis that has killed more than 500,000 Americans over the past two decades. 

A bipartisan group of attorneys general announced Wednesday the agreement with three major drug distributors — McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen — and pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, potentially releasing the companies from current and future litigation if a critical mass of communities across the country agree to drop their cases. 

Attorneys general who unveiled the deal said that while they could not adequately compensate the families of those who have died, but the money states will receive over the next 18 years may help reduce the future threat.

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), whose state will recoup about $1.25 billion as part of the nationwide settlement, said a “trail of destruction and tragedy has basically ravaged every corner of New York and every region of this nation.” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) said the agreement sends a message that states “simply will not tolerate this kind of behavior.”

The opioid files

The companies have denied wrongdoing. In a joint statement, the distributors said that while they dispute the claims made in lawsuits, the settlement marks a step “toward achieving broad resolution of governmental opioid claims and delivering meaningful relief to communities across the United States.”

“The companies remain deeply concerned about the impact the opioid epidemic is having on individuals, families, and communities across the nation and are committed to being part of the solution,” the statement said.

Johnson & Johnson, which said it would contribute up to $5 billion to resolve the litigation, said its marketing and promotion of opioids “were appropriate and responsible.”

“We recognize the opioid crisis is a tremendously complex public health issue, and we have deep sympathy for everyone affected,” Michael Ullmann, the company’s executive vice president, general counsel, wrote in a statement. “This settlement will directly support state and local efforts to make meaningful progress in addressing the opioid crisis in the United States.”

Under the settlement, Johnson & Johnson would be barred from manufacturing, marketing and selling opioids. The company voluntarily halted sales of pain pills last year.

The deal would also require the distributors to establish and fund a “clearinghouse” that shows where every opioid dose is headed, an accountability mechanism that would alert regulators of suspicious orders.

Tentative opioid deal would provide $26 billion and a new way to regulate painkillers

The settlement, which still needs broad support from states and communities, would settle more than 3,000 lawsuits brought by states, cities, counties and other jurisdictions that were consolidated into one of the largest and most complex civil litigation battles in U.S. legal history. A settlement has not yet been reached between the companies and Native American tribes. [MORE]