Native American tribes will get $665 million in opioid lawsuit settlement
America's three largest drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson have agreed to pay Native American tribes ravaged by the opioid crisis up to $665 million, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Per the Post, drug distributors "McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen reached a deal to pay $515 million over six years to the federally recognized tribes while Johnson & Johnson would distribute $150 million in two years, according to court documents filed Tuesday."
Most of the money, the Post reports, will "go toward programs that aid drug users and their communities," while around 15 percent will cover attorneys' fees.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In 2019, J&J settled with two Ohio counties for $20.4 million in a deal that did not require the pharmaceutical giant to admit liability for the harm opioids caused in those counties.
A district court in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, found J&J culpable for damages related to the opioid crisis the same year. In November 2021, the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned the lower court's $456 million judgement, ruling that Judge Thad Balkman and state prosecutors had incorrectly used public nuisance laws against J&J.
According to the Post, "[n]ationwide, from 2006 to 2014, Native Americans were nearly 50 percent more likely to die of an opioid overdose than non-natives."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
The Onion is having a very ironic laugh with Infowars
The Explainer The satirical newspaper is purchasing the controversial website out of bankruptcy
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'Rahmbo, back from Japan, will be looking for a job? Really?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What's next for electric vehicles under Trump?
Today's Big Question And what does that mean for Tesla's Elon Musk?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published