More than 1,000 hospitals earn $700M opioid crisis judgment
A $700 million class-action lawsuit settlement against opioid manufacturers and distributors has been approved by a judge. The defendants were accused of misrepresenting the safety of prescription painkillers and filling prescriptions for patients who did not have a medical need.
In a combined settlement that resolves multiple class-action lawsuits, more than 1,000 acute care centers and hospitals treating patients for opioid use disorder sued AmerisourceBergen (Cencora), Cardinal Health, McKesson, Johnson & Johnson, Teva and Allergan.
The defendants admit to no wrongdoing. However, they are set to pay out $651 million to the facilities and providers as direct compensation for past, present and future care delivery to patients struggling with opioid addiction. The remaining $49 million will be used to supply these facilities with Naloxone, an opioid antagonist used to reverse overdoses.
Drug manufacturers and distributors were accused of misrepresenting prescription opioids, improperly handling some orders or filling prescriptions for dubious medical purposes. Per the settlement, the defendants deny any wrongdoing.
It’s unclear what percentage of the settlement will be reserved for legal fees.
“We’re very pleased that these defendants recognized their responsibility to the thousands of acute care hospitals that have been on the front lines of the opioid epidemic for decades,” Warren Burns of the law firm Burns Charest said in a statement.
Burns and other members of the legal teams have lawsuits pending against Walgreens, CVS Health and Walmart related to similar allegations of mismanaging opioid prescriptions.
While roughly 1,000 hospitals and acute care centers are named as beneficiaries of the settlement, there could be more. A website set up to manage the settlement invited providers that treated patients for opioid abuse or related symptoms between Jan. 1, 2009, and Oct. 30, 2024, to apply for their share of the settlement fund.
The case was finalized in a U.S. District Court in New Mexico, but hospitals nationwide are eligible for payment.
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