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The U.S. pharmaceutical giant agrees to pay $ 230 million to settle claims that helped fuel the deadly opioid epidemic.
Johnson & Johnson, a U.S. pharmaceutical giant, has agreed to pay $ 230 million to resolve claims that helped push the opioid crisis, the New York state attorney general said Saturday.
Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement, “The opioid epidemic has wreaked havoc on several communities in New York State and the rest of the country, and has still left millions of dangerous and deadly opioids addicted.
“Johnson & Johnson helped spark that fire, but are now committed to quitting the opioid business – not just in New York, but across the country. J&J will no longer manufacture or sell opioids in the United States,” James said.
“We are also providing $ 230 million to fund opioid prevention, treatment and education efforts across New York State.”
The agreement involves a lawsuit filed by James in 2019 and removes Johnson & Johnson from a trial that will begin on Long Island next week.
It’s part of it numerous lawsuits as a result of an epidemic associated with nearly 500,000 deaths in the last twenty years.
“So effectively, by paying the settlement money, [Johnson & Johnson] it has been removed from a never-before-seen trial in its field, “said Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna from Washington, DC. Hanna added that the next trial will be for the jury,” something that has never happened in this case. “
In a statement on Saturday, Johnson & Johnson underestimated the attorney general’s announcement. The settlement is said to have developed two subsidiaries and account for less than 1 percent of the market, which are no longer sold in the U.S..
Johnson & Johnson said the settlement “is not the company’s responsibility or misappropriation.” He added that “the prescribed actions related to the marketing and promotion of important pain medications were appropriate and responsible.”
The company said the settlements were in line with a preliminary agreement to pay $ 5 billion for states, cities, counties and tribal governments to settle opioid claims.
Healthcare companies and major U.S. drug distributors – AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. – have proposed a combined $ 26 billion to end thousands of opioid lawsuits.
Tuesday’s opioid trial is one of the most scheduled this year, with others in California and West Virginia.
West Virginia has the highest rate of opioid overdose deaths in the country. Overdoses have increased since the early 2000s, when producers of prescription drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone increased sales through pharmacies and doctors with little control.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says nearly 500,000 people have died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2019.
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