J&J settles Ohio opioid lawsuit

Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the world's biggest maker of healthcare products, agreed to a $20.4 million legal settlement to avoiding a trial to determine if the company helped spark the opioid crisis in two Ohio counties.

The counties, Cuyahoga and Summit, include the cities of Cleveland and Akron that have been hurt by the opioid crisis. J&J's settlement includes $10 million in cash, $5 million to cover legal fees and $5.4 million in charitable contributions to non-profits focused on opioid addiction.

The company admitted no liability in settling the case. It still faces hundreds of similar lawsuits filed by states as well as other counties and cities.

"The settlement allows the company to avoid the resource demands and uncertainty of a trial as it continues to seek meaningful progress in addressing the nation's opioid crisis," J&J and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said Tuesday in a statement. "The company recognizes the opioid crisis is a complex public health challenge and is working collaboratively to help communities and people in need."

J&J became the fourth drugmaker to agree to such a deal to avoid a trial scheduled to begin this month in federal court in Cleveland. Earlier, Mallinckrodt agreed to a $30 million deal to settle the case; Endo International agreed to pay $10 million; and Allergan agreed to pay $5 million.

The remaining defendants in the Ohio case are drug distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen, retailer Walgreens, and manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals. Henry Schein, a small Ohio distributor, is also named in the lawsuit. The trial is considered a bellwether for pending lawsuits stemming from the opioid crisis. The judge has urged both sides to settle to avoid costly litigation.

In August, J&J lost at a trial in Oklahoma where a judge ordered the drug and consumer products to pay $572 million for its part in the state's opioid crisis. The company has appealed the verdict.

Like other drug manufacturers, J&J is considering a plan to settle remaining lawsuits stemming from the opioid epidemic by participating in Purdue Pharma's proposed bankruptcy settlement. No agreement has been reached, and no dollar amount has been discussed.

Purdue, manufacturer of OxyContin, and the Sackler family, which owns the company, and plaintiffs in the litigation would have to agree to the proposed inclusion of other drugmakers in the settlement.

That may be difficult because some state attorneys general, including New York and Massachusetts, have expressed doubts that the proposed $10 billion to $12 billion offered by Purdue is enough to compensate those harmed by opioids.

About 400,000 people died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2017, the US Centers for Disease Control reported.

OxyContin is a prescription opioid pain killer. It was first synthesized in 1916, but the drug wasn't available in the US until 1939. It's a time-released formula of oxycodone and provides up to 12 hours of relief to patients experiencing chronic pain from surgery, cancer, injury or severe arthritis.

The drug creates a euphoric high, which can lead users with a prescription to obtain more of the drug than they need. The drug is often sold illegally. The US attorney for the Southern District of New York said a 30-milligram oxycodone tablet has a street value of $20 to $30.