Drug companies settled opioid lawsuits for billions of dollars this year, and some filed for bankruptcy, but the litigation is far from over. Several closely watched appeals are coming up, and, for some defendants, the fight has just begun.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, drug distributors and pharmacies settled during, or just before, trials this year against states, cities and counties that sued over the opioid crisis. Distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, along with Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals, moved forward on their $26 billion global settlement, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Allergan reached multistate deals worth billions of dollars. Endo International, another manufacturer, filed for bankruptcy protection, potentially resolving thousands of opioid lawsuits for $450 million.
Paul Geller of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd. Courtesy photo
