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Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $230 million to the state of New York, resolving an opioid lawsuit facing the company.
The settlement includes an additional $33 million in attorney fees and costs for a total of $263 million, according to astatementfrom J&J. The pharmaceutical giant has also agreed to no longer sell opioids nationwide as part of the deal, which they said they had already stopped doing.
The settlement will remove J&J from a trial that is set to begin Tuesday on Long Island involving several other big opioid distributors, though the company has been named in various additional lawsuits in different states for its role in the nationwideopioid epidemic.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionestimatethat nearly 500,000 people have died from overdoses involving opioids between 1999 and 2019. The first wave, the health organization says, began with increased prescribing of opioids in the 1990s.
“The opioid epidemic has wreaked havoc on countless communities across New York state and the rest of the nation, leaving millions still addicted to dangerous and deadly opioids,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statementannouncing the settlement newsSaturday.
“Johnson & Johnson helped fuel this fire, but today they’re committing to leaving the opioid business — not only in New York, but across the entire country,” she added.
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The $230 million will be used to fund opioid prevention, treatment, and education efforts across the state, the statement confirmed.
source: people.com
