07/22/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/22/2021 14:44
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, July 22, 2021
PIERRE, S.D. - Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg today announced a historic $26 billion agreement that will help bring desperately needed relief to people across the country who are struggling with opioid addiction. The agreement includes Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen - the nation's three major pharmaceutical distributors - and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured and marketed opioids. The agreement also requires significant industry changes to prevent this type of crisis from happening again, and also resolves investigations and litigation over the companies' roles in creating and fueling the opioid epidemic.
The agreement would resolve the claims of both states and local governments across the country, including the nearly 4,000 that have filed lawsuits in federal and state courts. Following today's agreement, states have 30 days to sign onto the deal and local governments in the participating states will have up to 150 days to join to secure a critical mass of participating states and local governments. States and their local governments will receive maximum payments if each state and its local governments join together in support of the agreement.
'The United States saw 93,000 opioid overdose deaths last year,' said Ravnsborg. 'This is a big step on the long path towards making things better for so many individuals and families who have seen their lives torn apart by addiction. This settlement has the potential to bring approximately $50 million to the people of South Dakota, spread out over the next 17 years, to help our state and help our families who have been affected by the ravages of opioid addiction.'
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This settlement comes as a result of investigations by state attorneys general into whether the three distributors fulfilled their legal duty to refuse to ship opioids to pharmacies that submitted suspicious drug orders and whether Johnson & Johnson misled patients and doctors about the addictive nature of opioid drugs.
A previous version of this deal in principle was announced in 2019 and included the opioid manufacturer Teva. Negotiations with Teva are ongoing and are no longer part of this agreement. Today's deal comes on the heels of previously announced opioid settlements with Purdue Pharma, McKinsey Consulting, Mallinckrodt, and Insys Therapeutics. Combined these earlier matters will generate approximately $6.7 billion for opioid abatement, which in addition to today's agreement brings the collective opioid efforts of the attorneys general to $32.7 billion. These opioid cases represent the largest attorney general multi-state enforcement actions in history other than the tobacco master settlement agreement.
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The Office of the Attorney General is the chief legal officer for the State of South Dakota and provides legal advice to agencies, boards, and commissions of the State as well as representing the State in state and federal court. The Office of Attorney General also handles prosecutions, felony criminal appeals, civil matters, consumer protection issues, and issues formal opinions interpreting statutes for agencies of the state. Visit www.atg.sd.gov to learn more.
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CONTACT: Tim Bormann, Chief of Staff, (605) 773-3215