The US state of New York won its biggest settlement yet with drug companies over an opioid overdose epidemic, with three big distributers accepting a $1.1 billion penalty, state Attorney General Letitia James said on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2021) The US state of New York won its biggest settlement yet with drug companies over an opioid overdose epidemic, with three big distributers accepting a $1.1 billion penalty, state Attorney General Letitia James said on Tuesday.
"As part of today's agreement, McKesson, Cardinal Health, and Amerisource Bergen will pay New York state a total of up to $1,179,251,066.68, of which more than $1 billion will go towards abatement. Payments will start in just two months and will continue over the course of the next 17 years," a press release explaining the settlement said.
The settlement comes amid media reports of a $21 billion settlement with the three distributors of thousands of lawsuits by states, cities, counties and others. An additional $5 billion would be paid by drug maker Johnson & Johnson, in a nationwide settlement to be announced later this week.
Opioid overdoses claimed more than 500,000 lives in the past two decades, including nearly 70,000 in 2020.
