Johnson & Johnson To Pay $149M In Opioid Settlement, Washington State AG Says 'We Are Not Done'

Opioid producer and raw material supplier Johnson & Johnson JNJ reached a settlement last week in an opioid lawsuit with Washington state. 

What Happened: To avoid trial in Attorney General Bob Ferguson's lawsuit, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $149.5 million to the Evergreen State over “alleged past, present, and future financial, societal, and related expenditures arising out of the alleged misuse and abuse of opioid products, that have allegedly been caused by Janssen.”

Why It Matters: The resolution, filed Wednesday in King County Superior Court, grants the state and its local governments with tens of millions of dollars more to deal with the fentanyl crisis compared to the settlement that Ferguson declined three years ago. 

Washington is one of three states receiving more money than it otherwise would have under the 2021 multistate settlement that would grant it $98.9 million over a nine-year term.

Under Wednesday's settlement, the pharma giant is to pay $149.5 million in one lump sum this fiscal year. Furthermore, the agreement requires that $123.3 million of the total amount be used to combat the opioid epidemic, including the fentanyl crisis. Half of these resources will be directed to local governments combatting the issue.

"We have an urgent need for resources to address the fentanyl crisis that is impacting communities in every corner of the state," Ferguson said.

"We are standing up to some of the largest corporations in the world that fueled the epidemic in pursuit of profit, and we are winning critical resources that must be used to address the harm. We have now recovered more than $1.2 billion to improve treatment options, support first responders, and invest in other proven strategies to combat this crisis — and we're not done."

Johnson & Johnson's Role 

From the 1990s through at least 2016, the company grew and processed opium poppy plants and used the raw narcotic materials to produce the active ingredients needed for the manufacture of various opioid drugs, according to the press release from the Attorney General's Office. 

Not only did Johnson & Johnson manufacture its own opioids, but the company also sold processed active ingredients to other large opioid producers. These ingredients were used to make oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl, naloxone and more.

Ferguson argued the company deceived doctors on how addictive its opioids are, and "aggressively marketed" them for "chronic pain conditions like headaches, low back pain and fibromyalgia, despite evidence that opioids were not effective at treating these conditions." 

What's Next: Johnson & Johnson is required to pay the entire sum of $149.5 million within 21 days of the agreement being ratified by the state's local government, which must happen by May. 

See Also: Johnson & Johnson’s Settlement For Talc Cancer Lawsuits Reaches $700M Settlement With US States

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Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Joe Mabel, Alex43223 via Wikimedia Commons, OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay, and eskay lim via Unsplash.