Johnson & Johnson to pay New York $230m in deal to settle opioid case

Settlement will mean the drugmaker avoids being part of a sweeping lawsuit against opioid manufacturers

A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chemist pours 2,500 packs of confirmed fentanyl onto a counter for testing at the DEA Northeast Regional Laboratory in New York (AFP via Getty Images)

Johnson & Johnson will pay New York state more than $230m (£165.6m) to settle a lawsuit against the company and others for allegedly contributing to the opioid crisis, which has killed more than 800,000 Americans in the last 20 years.

“The opioid epidemic has wreaked havoc on countless communities across New York state and the rest of the nation, leaving millions still addicted to dangerous and deadly opioids,”  New York attorney general Letitia James said in a statement. “Johnson & Johnson helped fuel this fire, but today they’re committing to leaving the opioid business — not only in New York, but across the entire country.”

In 2019, Ms James filed the nation’s most extensive lawsuit against the opioid industry, suing J&J as well as others like Purdue Pharma and McKesson Corp. As a result of the settlement, J&J will not be a part of the case going forward.

The company, which previously manufactured a fentanyl patch and crush-resistant pills until ceasing making pain meds in the US last year, denied wrongdoing in a statement, writing “the company’s actions relating to the marketing and promotion of important prescription pain medications were appropriate and responsible.”

Another term of the settlement is that J&J will exit the opioid business entirely in the US.

The settlement in New York is the latest in a wave of legal actions against major drugmakers in recent years, as the toll of widespread opioid abuse across the country becomes more evident. J&J was also ordered to pay $572m (£468m) as part of a 2019 lawsuit in Oklahoma.

The opioid crisis began in the 1990s with the release of powerful new prescription drugs to treat chronic pain, as The Independent’s Richard Hall explains in a recent deep-dive report. Pharmaceutical companies promoted their new products with spurious claims that they were not as addictive as other opioids that came before. They became routinely overprescribed by doctors; it was not uncommon to see long lines outside pharmacies as people drove from miles around to pick up prescriptions.

Addiction soared and overdoses rose dramatically across the country. In 1994, the overdose death rate in the US was 4.8 deaths per 100,000 people. By 2015 it had more than tripled to 16.3 per 100,000. It has grown even higher since.

The crisis reached communities small and large, but hit particularly hard in Appalachia, which runs through the east of the US from New York state down to Georgia. Research suggests that deaths were concentrated among those with lower education levels, and among people who worked in industries and settings that were more likely to lead to injury.