Just hours before a landmark opioid trial was schedule to being at an Ohio courthouse, major drug distributors and a manufacturer agreed to a tentative settlement. The settlement deal totals $260 million, according to multiple sources.
The settlement agreement between opioid drug distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson and Amerisource Bergen, as well as manufacturer Teva. Attorneys Paul J. Hanly Jr., Paul T. Farrell Jr. and Joe Rice, the executive committee co-leads from the National Prescription Opiate Litigation, said they “will make significant progress to abate the epidemic by providing resources for and applying funds directly to necessary opioid-recovery programs.” The preliminary settlement will resolve a majority of the cases brought against the four drug industry giants.
Cuyahoga and Summit Counties in Ohio are the first of the more than 2,700 communities as part of the National Prescription Opiate Litigation to go to trial, which was set to take place on Monday. Walgreens was the only defendant that did not settle ahead of Monday’s trial, and its trial has now been postponed.
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