Distributors Reach $518 Mln Opioid-related Settlement With Washington State

(RTTNews) - AmerisourceBergen (ABC), Cardinal Health (CAH) and McKesson (MCK) announced Tuesday that they have reached an agreement with the Washington Attorney General, under which the distributors will pay up to $518 million to the State of Washington and its participating subdivisions to resolve opioid-related claims.

The settlement amount is consistent with Washington's allocation under the previously announced comprehensive agreement to settle the vast majority of the opioid lawsuits filed by state and local governmental entities, as well as certain attorneys' fees and costs.

Upon effectiveness of the settlement, the State of Washington will dismiss the lawsuit that is currently being tried. The agreement is subject to certain contingencies, including the rate of subdivision participation.

The terms of the agreement with the State of Washington are consistent with the comprehensive settlement agreement, which became effective on April 2, 2022.

While the companies strongly dispute the allegations made in the plaintiffs' complaints and during trial, they believe that resolving all of the litigation filed by the State of Washington and its political subdivisions will further the companies' goal of achieving broad resolution of governmental opioid claims while delivering meaningful relief to communities across the United States that have been impacted by the opioid epidemic.