Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and its U.S. subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies have reached a $150 million settlement agreement with federally-recognized tribes related to opioid-related claims payable over two years.
The case was filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.
The settlement notes that American Indians have one of the highest rates of opioid overdoses per capita in the U.S. Tribal governments have thus been forced to pay considerable sums to “cover the costs of the opioid crisis, including increased costs for health care, social services, child welfare, law enforcement and other government services that Tribes provide to their citizens,” it added.
McKesson (NYSE:MCK), AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) and Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) have reached similar agreements with U.S. tribes.
In all, the companies will pay at least $590 million to settle lawsuits related to opioid medications.
The J&J portion of the suit related to the drugs Duragesic, Nucynta and Nucynta ER. The company has since stopped selling opioids.
JNJ shares fell 0.82% to $170.88 today.