[ad_1]
Johnson and Johnson have agreed to stop selling opioids in the U.S. as a result of a $ 230 million settlement with New York State to resolve claims that helped fuel the epidemic of prescription painkillers.
The company made opioids including fentanyl patch and tablet, denied the wrongs, but will stop manufacturing and distributing opioids in the US.
The settlement is part of a wave of more than 3,000 lawsuits across the U.S. to force opioid producers and distributors to take economic responsibility for an epidemic that officials are accused of marketing highly addictive drugs.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid overdoses have killed 500,000 Americans in two decades. Many of these deaths were analgesics performed by drug addicts and prescribed by physicians.
If managed, J&J will avoid trial next week when New York State plans to sue other opioid creators and distributors in court.
“The opioid epidemic has wreaked havoc on several communities across New York State and across the nation, leaving millions dependent on millions of dangerous and deadly opioids,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
“Johnson & Johnson helped start this fire, but they are now committed to quitting the opioid business – not just in New York, but across the country,” he said.
James added that the pharmaceutical company was motivated by the heavy marketing of opioids due to fees for sales staff.
J&J said that “actions related to the marketing and promotion of major prescription pain medications are appropriate and responsible.”
In March 2019, James filed a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors. In addition to J&Jz, Purdue Pharma and its owner Sackler family members, Mallinckrodt, Endo and Teva, among others, filed charges. It was also addressed to distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen.
Cases against Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family and Mallinckrodt are pending before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The trial of all the other defendants is scheduled to begin next week.
In August, an Oklahoma judge ordered J&J to pay $ 465 million in a 2019 trial after he was held responsible for the public obstruction of the opioid crisis in the state.
[ad_2]
Source link
