Drug Companies, U.S. States Reach $26 Billion Settlement Over Opioid Crisis
July 23rd, 2021Via: AFP:
Prosecutors from several US states on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping proposed settlement under which four pharmaceutical companies accused of fueling the country’s opioid epidemic would pay up to $26 billion to resolve thousands of claims in federal and state courts.
Under the proposed agreement, three drug distributors—McKesson, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen—along with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, would pay to resolve some 4,000 claims as well as finance prevention and treatment programs, said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The proposed settlement is the largest unveiled in the multi-year legal effort to hold the industry accountable for the opioids crisis, which has caused more than 500,000 deaths in the United States in the last 20 years.
