OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state legal professional basic introduced a $149.5 million settlement Wednesday with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, greater than 4 years after the state sued the corporate over its position fueling the opioid habit disaster.
Lawyer Basic Bob Ferguson’s announcement got here as opioid overdose deaths have risen throughout the state, with 2,048 in 2022 — greater than twice as many deaths as there have been in 2019, in line with the newest numbers from the Washington State Division of Well being.
Beneath the deal, the state and native governments must spend $123.3 million to deal with the opioid disaster, together with on substance abuse therapy, expanded entry to overdose-reversal medicine and providers that help pregnant girls on substances. The remainder of the cash would go towards litigation prices.
The settlement settlement nonetheless requires approval from a choose. If permitted, the deal would ship over $20 million extra to answer the opioid disaster than if the state had signed onto a nationwide settlement in 2021 involving Johnson & Johnson, the legal professional basic’s workplace stated.
Because the 2000s, drugmakers, wholesalers, pharmacy chains and consultants have agreed to pay greater than $50 billion to state and native governments to settle claims that they performed an element in creating the opioid disaster.
Beneath the agreements, many of the cash is for use to fight the nation’s habit and overdose disaster.
Drug overdoses induced greater than 1 million deaths within the U.S. from 1999 by means of 2021, and the vast majority of these concerned opioids. At first, the disaster centered on prescription painkillers that gained extra acceptance within the Nineties, and later heroin. Over the previous decade, the loss of life toll has reached an all-time excessive, and the most important killers have been artificial opioids reminiscent of fentanyl which can be within the provide of many avenue medicine.
Washington state’s Democratic legal professional basic sued Johnson & Johnson in 2020, alleging that it helped drive the pharmaceutical trade’s growth of prescription opioids. He additionally claimed that the corporate made a definite mark on Washington’s opioid disaster by deceiving docs and the general public in regards to the effectiveness of opioids for persistent ache and the danger of habit.
Johnson & Johnson stated in a written assertion Monday that Duragesic, its fentanyl patch, and its Nucynta opioid accounted for lower than 1% of opioid prescriptions within the state and the U.S., including that it has not bought prescription opioid medicines within the nation in years.
“The Firm’s actions referring to the advertising and marketing and promotion of necessary prescription opioid medicines have been acceptable and accountable,” in line with the assertion.
The legal professional basic’s workplace famous that the corporate was one of many largest suppliers of the uncooked narcotic supplies wanted to supply opioid medicine.
Funds will probably be awarded by the tip of this fiscal yr, which implies that the Legislature can earmark the cash in the course of the present legislative session. Half of the cash will go to a state account, whereas the opposite half will go to an account for native governments, in line with the legal professional basic’s workplace.
The deal comes about two years after the nation’s three largest opioid distributors agreed to pay the state $518 million, with the overwhelming majority being directed towards easing the habit epidemic.
AP reporter Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed.