Companies, Ohio counties reach $260 million settlement over opioid crisis

October 22, 2019 By
See the full CNN story here.

See the full CNN story here.

Four pharmaceutical companies have reached a $260 million settlement in response to the national opioid epidemic.

The settlement, announced on Oct. 21, was reached on the eve of a first-of-its-kind federal trial, CNN reports.

The settlement totaling $260 million was reached between four companies — McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., AmerisourceBergen Corp., and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. — and plaintiffs, Summit and Cuyahoga counties in Ohio, the news site reports.

The case was dismissed with prejudice, according to U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster. 

Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson reached a tentative settlement in Ohio in response to a federal lawsuit over the nation’s opioid epidemic, agreeing to pay $10 million to Cuyahoga and Summit counties, Ohio, as well as reimburse $5 million in legal fees and donate $5.4 million for opioid-related programs.

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Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $10 million to two Ohio counties

October 9, 2019 By
Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals manufactured opioids and Johnson & Johnson also owned two companies that processed and imported the raw material used to manufacture oxycodone, a highly addictive opioid, shown above. Photo credit: www.drugs.com.

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals manufactured opioids and Johnson & Johnson also owned two companies that processed and imported the raw material used to manufacture oxycodone, a highly addictive opioid, shown above. Photo credit: www.drugs.com.

Johnson & Johnson has reached a tentative settlement in Ohio in response to a federal lawsuit over the nation’s opioid epidemic, The Washington Post reports.

The health-care giant will pay $10 million to Cuyahoga and Summit counties, Ohio, as well as reimburse $5 million in legal fees and donate $5.4 million for opioid-related programs in the communities, The Post reports.

The case was brought by more than 2,500 counties, cities, and Native American tribes. 

In August, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay the state of Oklahoma $572 million in the first opioid-related state case to go to trial.

Cleveland County (Okla.) District Judge Thad Balkman found the pharmaceutical company responsible for the opioid crisis in Oklahoma, one of more than 40 states waging lawsuits, The Washington Post reports.

An estimated 400,000 people have died of overdoses from painkillers, heroin and illegal fentanyl since 1999.

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Okla. judge orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for opioid crisis

August 28, 2019 By
Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman made a landmark ruling, which found Johnson & Johnson liable for fueling an opioid epidemic in Oklahoma. (Photo credit: Reuters as reported by The Washington Post on 8/26/19.)

Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman made a landmark ruling, which found Johnson & Johnson liable for fueling an opioid epidemic in Oklahoma. (Photo credit: Reuters as reported by The Washington Post on 8/26/19.)

Johnson & Johnson must pay the state of Oklahoma $572 million in the first opioid-related state case to go to trial.

Cleveland County (Okla.) District Judge Thad Balkman found the pharmaceutical company responsible for the opioid crisis in Oklahoma, one of more than 40 states waging lawsuits, The Washington Post reports.

Judge Balkman issued his ruling Monday, Aug. 26, which The Post dubbed a “landmark decision” and “the first to hold a drugmaker culpable for the fallout of years of liberal opioid dispensing that began in the late 199os.”

An estimated 400,000 people have died of overdoses from painkillers, heroin and illegal fentanyl since 1999. according to the report.

Oklahoma attorneys sought $17.5 billion over 30 years for treatment, emergency care, law enforcement, social services, and other addiction-related needs, but Judge Balkman ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million “to remedy the drug crisis in the first year, based on the state’s plan,” The Post reports. The company has vowed to appeal.

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Judge seeks funding information in opioid-manufacturer lawsuits

June 6, 2018 By
Photo Credit: By richiec from Chicago, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo Credit: By richiec from Chicago, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A U.S. District judge wants information about the funders behind hundreds of lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors of opioids.

“The judge overseeing more than 600 lawsuits targeting opioid makers is demanding local governments’ lawyers turn over information about any litigation-funding agreements and provide assurance that lenders won’t gain control over legal strategy or settlements,” Bloomberg reported.

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland issued the order on May 7, “saying he wants to ensure the agreements don’t create conflicts of interest by affecting plaintiffs lawyers’ judgments in pursuing cases against opioid makers, such as Purdue Pharma LLP and Johnson & Johnson, and distributors such as McKesson Corp. and Cardinal Health Inc.”

Bloomberg explained, “He wants to know details of any lending arrangements, and he requested sworn statements from the lawyers and lenders that there won’t be any conflicts of interest and that the lenders won’t have control over strategy, advocacy or settlement decisions.”

On April 11, Reuters reported that Polster was pushing for a settlement and pursuing an aggressive schedule “that would have the first trial take place in March 2019.”

Reuters noted, “The lawsuits accuse the drugmakers of deceptively marketing opioids and allege that drug distributors ignored red flags indicating the painkillers were being diverted for improper uses. In 2016, 42,000 people died from opioid overdoses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

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Trump administration targets opioid manufacturers

March 26, 2018 By

President Trump and the U.S. Justice Department have championed lawsuits against opioid manufacturers as part of a broader push to stem the deadly rise in opioid addiction.

CNBC reported that the U.S. Justice Department launched a new task force to “target the makers and distributors of prescription painkillers who, according to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, have contributed to an epidemic of fatal overdoses from opioids by selling too much of the addictive drugs.”

Sessions said he is ordering the task force “to examine existing state and local government lawsuits against opioid manufacturers to determine if we can be of assistance,” CNBC reported.

President Trump made his first visit to New Hampshire since the 2016 election on Monday, March 19, when he rolled out a plan to curb opioid addiction.

The New York Times noted that the plan included “the death penalty for drug dealers and a crackdown on illegal immigrants.”

New Hampshire experienced the nation’s third-highest rate of deaths from overdoses, The New York Times reported. “Drug overdoses killed roughly 64,000 people in the United States in 2016, according to initial estimates from the C.D.C., and have become the leading cause of death for Americans under 50,” the newspaper reported.

In response to the President’s speech, Sessions said he assigned “a dozen experienced prosecutors in opioid hot-spot districts to focus solely on investigating and prosecuting opioid-related health care fraud.”

President Trump visited NH on 3/19/18 to speak about the opioid epidemic. Photo credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times as reported by The New York Times on 3/19/18.

President Trump visited NH on 3/19/18 to speak about the opioid epidemic. Photo credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times as reported by
The New York Times
on 3/19/18.

Sessions, in a speech on Thursday, March 22, noted that the President has voiced his “strong support for the Department of Justice’s new Prescription Interdiction and Litigation — or PIL — Task Force,” which will “focus on and coordinate the Department’s efforts to investigate, prosecute or bring lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors who have unlawfully contributed to this epidemic” and will review existing laws. It will also consider assisting with ongoing state and local government lawsuits against opioid manufacturers.

 

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