Big 3 drug distributors, J&J reach landmark $26B opioid settlement

A group of state attorneys general unveiled on Wednesday a landmark, $26 billion settlement resolving claims that the three largest US drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson helped fuel a deadly nationwide opioid epidemic.

Under the settlement proposal, distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen are expected to pay a combined $21 billion, while Johnson & Johnson would pay $5 billion. One day earlier, on Tuesday, the three distributors agreed to pay up to $1.18 billion to settle claims by New York state and two of its biggest counties, Nassau and Suffolk, over the opioid epidemic issue.