Historic 30 Trillion Won Settlement with 4 Pharmaceutical and Distribution Companies over Opioid Crisis

(Photo by WSJ)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 21st (local time) that a historic settlement worth $26 billion (approximately 30 trillion KRW) has been reached in the opioid addiction lawsuit involving pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson and the three major U.S. distributors McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, and Cardinal Health.

With this settlement, lawsuits with state governments have been temporarily resolved, but for the complete conclusion of the litigation, plaintiffs must confirm the settlement terms through a vote.

According to the report, the three major distributors agreed to pay $21 billion (approximately 24.2 trillion KRW) over 18 years to end the lawsuits, and Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $5 billion (approximately 5.8 trillion KRW) over 9 years.

William Tong, Attorney General of Connecticut who participated in the lawsuit, said, "The amount is insufficient for the pain and tragedy experienced by the families of the plaintiffs."

Local governments plan to use the settlement funds for medical services for opioid addicts and welfare costs such as protecting the children of addicts.

Purdue Pharma, a pharmaceutical company that admitted guilt and filed for bankruptcy protection related to the opioid crisis, recently agreed to pay $4.5 billion (approximately 5.2 trillion KRW) to 15 states.

Previously, over 3,000 local governments including U.S. states and counties filed lawsuits against the three major distributors and pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson regarding the opioid issue.

The defendants were accused of distributing opioids to communities without disclosing the severe addictive side effects.

Meanwhile, government data shows that deaths from opioid overdoses increased by about 37% compared to the previous year, worsening drug addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic, WSJ reported.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.