Johnson & Johnson (J&J), along with the nation's three largest pharmaceutical distributors, would pay $641 million as part of a nationwide opioid settlement to New jersey.
All the 21 counties and 241 municipalities of New Jersey were required to sign the agreement to get the maximum amount of more than $641 million from the $26 billion national settlement.
The agreement would help Johnson & Johnson and three pharmaceutical distributors, McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen to get rid of the opioid claims throughout the country. The companies are accused of using unethical means to promote the sale of opioids in the pharmaceutical market.
The settlement would relieve the affected families and help the government to deal with such a crisis in the future, but no money can bring back the lost lives and compensate the feelings of the families who lost their loved ones.
The final nod from the defendant companies is expected on February 25, depending on the number of states subdivisions from around the country that signed the agreement.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the death rate increased to 28% from April 2020 to April 2021 in the U.S.
