The state Attorney General of Oklahoma announced that the state has reached a $250 million settlement with the three drug companies to deal with the opioid addiction crisis.
The companies involved in the settlement are McKesson, Cardinal and AmerisourceBergen. All these companies face numerous lawsuits against them with allegations that they fueled the opioid crisis in the state and across the nation.
The AG said that the crisis has led to opioid addictions and overdoses, affecting the families across Oklahoma. No money is sufficient to bring back the lives lost due to the opioids, but these funds would treat current opioid addicts and prevent future opioid crisis.
According to a statement released by AmerisourceBergen, the settlement would speed up the distribution of resources to areas afflicted by opioid addiction and save years of drawn-out litigation. The years of court proceedings leading up to this point have repeatedly demonstrated that pharmaceutical distributors must walk a legal and ethical tightrope between giving access to essential pharmaceuticals and intervening to prevent restricted substance diversion. AmerisourceBergen will keep pushing for further regulatory guidance and clarification on the distributors' responsibilities in preventing the diversion of authorised controlled drugs, as we have for years.
Representatives of other drugs did not comment on the scenario. If the agreement is approved, it would put an end to accusations made against AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., and McKesson Corp. by the state Attorney General's Office, which sought to hold them accountable for their alleged involvement in sparking and sustaining the national opioid crisis.
The state has already collected more than $680 million from opioid manufacturers, including $270 million from Purdue, the manufacturer of OxyContin, and $85 million from Israeli-owned Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, after previously rejecting a nationwide deal with the corporations.
