ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt celebrated a victory and announced the state will receive about $458 million in a historic opioid settlements with Johnson & Johnson and major opioid distributors (McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen).
A press release from Schmitt says the amount is one of the largest victim-centric settlements in the state's history. They say there's also the potential for hundreds of millions in additional settlement money from litigation with Mallinckrodt and Purdue Pharma.
“For years, the State of Missouri has been ravaged by the opioid epidemic, entire communities and neighborhoods crushed under the weight of opioid addiction and abuse. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and more have been lost to this vicious cycle. This settlement won’t bring our loved ones back, it won’t provide any solace for those losses, but it can bring desperately needed resources to treatment centers, rehab facilities, law enforcement, and others who are on the frontlines of fighting this opioid epidemic in our state,” said Schmitt.
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Schmitt says he was prepared to go to court that Johnson & Johnson lied to consumers about how deadly and addictive it's pain killer were. The opioids were prescribed in abundance for simple injuries or tooth extractions, with some patients becoming addicted. The lawsuit argued that this led to many overdose deaths.
Of the $458 million, 60% will go to the state and 40% will go to specific counties in the state with programs that battle drug addiction.
In July of 2021, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced the preliminary settlement in the Office’s opioid litigation against Johnson & Johnson and major opioid distributors. In order to obtain the full amount of the settlement, the Office was required to obtain sign-on to the settlement from all of Missouri’s counties. Through the Fighting Addiction, Saving Lives program, the Office made a full court press to get those sign-ons.
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