Michigan Could Get $800M In Opioid Litigation

Michigan Could Get $800M In Opioid Litigation

Introduction

Attorney General Dana Nessel said that Michigan could get $800 million in opioid litigation from the three major drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for the opioid epidemic caused in the state.

The final amount will be decided and allocated as per the metrics and participation of local governments. The settlement amount will be a part of the earlier announced deal where the opioid distributors and J&J agreed to pay $26 billion as a national settlement in the opioid MDL. The defendants who will pay the amount are J&J, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson.

In 1998, Michigan received a similar national tobacco settlement which involved a much larger amount. The deal allotted $8.2 billion to Michigan to be paid over 25 years. To date, Michigan has received $5.9 billion from the settlement.

Ms. Nessel said the settlement would provide much-needed financial support to the families and individuals affected due to the opioid crisis fueled by the distributors and J&J. It will even fund ongoing intervention, services, and treatment efforts in terms of the opioid crisis.

The agreement orders the pharmaceutical distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen to pay $21 billion over the next 18 years. J&J will pay the remaining $5 billion over the next nine years, from which $3.7 billion will be paid during the initial three years.

The distributors and J&J are even ordered to regulate the shipping of suspicious opioid orders and provide proper guidelines to the sales staff on selling opioids.

“The total amount of money to be distributed will be determined by the complete level of participation of both the plaintiffs and the non-compliant governments,” the AG Office said. "Most of this money will be used for the treatment and prevention of opioids."

A total of 86 municipalities or districts have filed lawsuits to be settled by agreement. It is expected that the first payments will be distributed in July 2022.