Washington—Johnson & Johnson, one of the pharmaceutical giants accused of fueling the deadly US opioid crisis, has reached a settlement with the state of New York for $230 million and confirmed it will stop making or selling opioids in the United States.
The agreement announced Saturday allows Johnson & Johnson to resolve litigation over its role in the epidemic, which has killed more than half a million people since 1999, according to a statement from New York attorney general Letitia James.
For its part, in a separate statement J&J said the settlement allowed it to avoid a trial that was scheduled to begin Monday, and said the group had “made the business decision in 2020 to discontinue all of its prescription pain medications in the United States.”
The settlement “is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by the company,” it said, noting that other nationwide legal proceedings are underway, including a trial in California.
The prosecutor’s statement said the company would spread the payments over nine years.
J&J could also pay an additional $30 million in the first year if the state enacts new legislation creating an opioid settlement fund.
“The opioid epidemic has wreaked havoc on countless communities across New York state and the rest of the nation, leaving millions still addicted to dangerous and deadly opioids,” James said in the statement.
“Johnson & Johnson helped fuel this fire, but today they’re committing to leaving the opioid business—not only in New York, but across the entire country,” she added.
That includes both manufacturing and selling opioids, James’ statement said. Johnson & Johnson stressed it had made the decision before the settlement was reached.
The $230 million will be aimed at prevention, treatment and education efforts on the dangers of the substances in New York state.
Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma and other pharmaceutical companies and distributors are accused of encouraging doctors to overprescribe opioids–initially reserved for patients with particularly serious cancers–even though they knew they were highly addictive.
Since 1999, this dependence has pushed many users of the drugs to higher and higher doses and to illicit substances such as heroin or fentanyl, an extremely powerful synthetic opiate with a high risk of fatal overdose.
About 500,000 people have died of drug overdoses in the United States since then.