In a joint statement issued February 25, 2022, distributor Defendants AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson announced that each company has determined that there is sufficient participation by states and litigating local governments to move forward with a comprehensive agreement to settle the vast majority of the opioid lawsuits filed by state and local governmental entities, including Sweetwater County, Wyoming and Green River, Wyoming.
As of today, 46 of 49 eligible states, and more than 90 percent of eligible political subdivisions that have brought opioid-related suits against the companies, have agreed to participate in the settlement or have had their claims addressed by state legislation. Sweetwater County and Green River, through their attorneys Charles Barnum and Rick Koehmstedt, have notified the federal court in Cleveland, Ohio that each entity has agreed to participate in the distributor settlement.
AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, along with Johnson and Johnson, will pay a combined total of approximately $26 Billion over the next 18 years under the settlement agreement. This settlement will provide thousands of communities across the United States with much needed financial assistance in fighting the opioid crisis.
The effective date of the agreement is April 2, 2022. The distributors’ first annual payment, which is currently in escrow, will be released to the participating states on the effective date or as soon thereafter as all conditions under the settlement have been met.