Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $40.5 million to resolve New Hampshire's allegations over the pharmaceutical company's participation in the country's opioid epidemic, postponing a trial that was supposed to begin next week.
The settlement was announced on Thursday, and it addressed a case filed against Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen Pharmaceuticals company in 2018. The state of New Hampshire accused the company of aggressively selling opioids to doctors and patients, misrepresenting their addictive tendencies when taken to treat chronic pain, and preying on vulnerable populations such as the elderly.
According to the Governor of New Hampshire, the resolution is a great step forward in ensuring that such destructive economic practices do not occur again.
After paying legal expenses, New Hampshire will put $31.5 million into opioid abatement, and Johnson & Johnson will be barred from selling or advertising opioids in the state. The trial was set for September 7 in Merrimack County Superior Court.
Johnson & Johnson issued a statement in which it denied any wrongdoing and described its marketing and promotion of prescription opioids as reasonable and prudent.
The company also stated that it will defend itself in other pending opioid cases. New Hampshire was one of a few states that did not join Johnson & Johnson's part of a $26 billion countrywide opioid settlement with the corporation and the three major U.S. drug distributors in February, expecting to recoup more by suing on its own.
Johnson & Johnson expects to be compensated $1.5 million as New Hampshire did not join in the settlement. Meanwhile, the company claimed it is still facing an opioid lawsuit from Washington state, and that a trial set for this month has been postponed indefinitely.
More than 500,000 individuals have died from opioid overdoses in the United States over the last two decades, according to federal figures, including a record 75,673 in the fiscal year ending April 2021.
