NEW YORK, New York — Opioid drug manufacturers McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen offered to settle litigation with 21 states for the sum of $18 billion paid over eighteen years. The states rejected the settlement offer. Becker’s Hospital Review said that the Wall Street Journal reported the states demanded settlements ranging from $22 billion and […]
NEW YORK, New York — Opioid drug manufacturers McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen offered to settle litigation with 21 states for the sum of $18 billion paid over eighteen years. The states rejected the settlement offer. Becker’s Hospital Review said that the Wall Street Journal reported the states demanded settlements ranging from $22 billion and $32 billion. Other states wanted the settlement paid over a shorter amount of time. The lawsuits allege the three drug makers loaded the represented states with large amounts of opioid drugs unlawfully. All parties have been locked in settlement negotiations since October of 2019. The 21 states, who were joined by Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., are unlikely to resolve the litigation because talks have been difficult.
One of the Attorneys General prosecuting the case for Ohio pointed out that the settlement proposed by the three opioid drug distributors would do little to hurt their bottom lines. The Attorneys General want an agreement that punishes the companies. A financial firm hired by the Ohio Attorney General said that the $18 billion settlement would not accomplish that goal.
AmerisourceBergen said that some of the states do not understand the benefits of a global settlement, as proposed by the pharmaceutical companies. In the context of this litigation, the comprehensive settlement means that the companies would pay an agreed-upon sum of money to settle every case pending against them and would fashion the agreement so that the companies would not face any other lawsuits. Additionally, McKesson’s representatives indicated that reaching a global deal would help relieve the financial burden suffered by the communities hardest hit by the opioid crisis.
Cardinal Health chimed in as well. Cardinal Health said that it is working diligently toward achieving a global settlement. Like McKesson, Cardinal Health believes that setting the case would give communities financial relief so desperately needed in many areas of the country.