Ohio Opioid Settlement May Set Tone for $50 Billion Global Agreement

What was supposed to be the first major federal trial related to the opioid crisis was averted in late October with a $260 million settlement between two Ohio counties and four drug distributors and manufacturers.

The deal may set the framework for a much bigger agreement: a $48 billion global settlement between numerous companies and thousands of plaintiffs. On the same day the Ohio settlement was announced, attorneys general for North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas announced that they had reached a tentative agreement to settle over 2,000 opioid-related lawsuits against five distributors and manufacturers.

Purdue Pharma LP, the maker of OxyContin (oxycodone), has reached its own settlement agreement, but over two dozen states and about 500 municipalities are opposed. The proposal is making its way through bankruptcy court (Psychiatric News).

The Ohio settlement involved three drug distributors—McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen Corporation—as well as the manufacturer Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Under the terms, the distributors agreed to pay $215 million to Summit and Cuyahoga counties in Ohio, while Teva agreed to pay $20 million in cash and $25 million in addiction and overdose treatment drugs.

In a joint statement, the three distributors said they “strongly dispute the allegations made by the two counties,” but “they believe settling the bellwether trial is an important steppingstone to achieving a global resolution and delivering meaningful relief.”

Attorneys general from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas also issued a joint statement in which they said the Ohio settlement “is an important step that allows us to move forward toward the global settlement and ensure people struggling with opioid addiction across the country get the help they need as soon as possible.”

The $48 billion global settlement is far from finalized, as officials in many states, including Ohio, New Hampshire, and West Virginia, have already expressed concern about how the money will be divvied up, Reuters reported.

As it is currently proposed, the global settlement involves McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and Teva, as well as Johnson & Johnson, which had already reached a $20 million deal to avoid the Ohio trial. McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and Johnson & Johnson would give $22 billion in cash over 18 years, the distributors would give $3 billion in distribution services, and over the next decade Teva would give $250 million and $23 billion in addiction treatment drugs, according to The New York Times.

“The global resolution on the table will distribute funds fairly between states, counties, and cities while also ensuring that these companies change their business practices to prevent a public health crisis like this from ever happening again,” the four attorneys general said in their joint statement. ■