Michigan expected to receive up to nearly $800 million √Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and state attorneys general across the country Wednesday revealed the details of a proposed multibillion-dollar national opioid settlement with Johnson & Johnson and the three largest pharmaceutical distributors in the country: Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen.
The attorneys general have been engaged in ongoing efforts to hold these companies responsible for their roles in contributing to the opioid epidemic gripping this country.
The agreement would resolve the claims of both state and local governments across the country, including the nearly 4,000 that have filed lawsuits in federal and state courts. The agreement also requires significant industry changes that will help prevent this type of crisis from ever happening again.
Depending on the allocation metrics and participation of local units of government, Michigan stands to receive up to nearly $800 million from these defendants over the life of the settlement. Only the 1998 national tobacco settlement has involved more dollars than this proposed settlement.
Nessel has focused on combatting the opioid epidemic and holding accountable those responsible for creating and fueling the crisis. Most recently, in February, Nessel joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general to secure a $573 million settlement with one of the world’s largest consulting firms, McKinsey & Co. Michigan is on the receiving end of $19.5 million in that settlement. Michigan has already received approximately $16 million of this money.
Additionally, Michigan became the first state in the country to sue major opioid distributors as drug dealers under Nessel’s leadership in December 2019. That case remains in active litigation. However, the historic settlement announced Wednesday would resolve the claims against three of the four defendants in the case. The litigation against Walgreens will continue.
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