Oklahoma settles opioid lawsuit for $250 million

Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor has settled the state’s opioid lawsuit against three drug distributors for $250 million.

Oklahoma is the latest state to reach an agreement with drug companies over the opioid crisis. The deal comes after the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed a $465 million judgment the state obtained against manufacturer Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Monday’s settlement is with Cardinal Health Inc., AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. and McKesson Corp.

“I am pleased that the state and many local governments were able to work together to arrive at this settlement amount,” O’Connor said in a statement. “This settlement is still subject to approval by the decision-makers in the cities and counties.”

A Cardinal Health representative declined to comment, and a McKesson spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

“A settlement will avoid years of protracted litigation, expedite the movement of resources to communities impacted by opioid misuse and allow our company to do what we do best – ensuring that health care facilities like hospitals and community pharmacies have access to the medications that patients and care providers need – ranging from blood pressure medications to chemotherapies to COVID-19 treatments and, as appropriate, prescription pain medications,” AmerisourceBergen said in a statement. “The years of legal actions leading up to this point have shown time and time again that pharmaceutical distributors must walk a legal and ethical tightrope between providing access to necessary medications and acting to prevent diversion of controlled substances. As we have for years, AmerisourceBergen will continue to advocate for greater clarity and regulatory guidance on the role of distributors in preventing the diversion of legal controlled substances.”

O’Connor had opted not to participate in a $26 billion global settlement with the same three distributors that, on Monday, he insisted would have “short-changed Oklahomans.”

But, similar to the global deal, the settlement depends on the participation of cities and counties. It also differentiates allocation amounts between cities and counties that filed lawsuits against the distributors, versus those that didn’t, and defendants plan to provide millions of dollars in additional attorney fees. Outside counsel for the state and Oklahoma’s cities and counties also agreed to reduce their overall fees and expenses.

The settlement also ensures that no less than 85% of the funds will go toward abating the opioid crisis in Oklahoma.

Former Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter sued the distributors soon after obtaining the Johnson & Johnson judgment, which followed a 2019 bench trial before Cleveland County District Court Judge Thad Balkman. On Nov. 9, 2021, the Oklahoma Supreme Court found that Balkman “went too far” in extending the state’s public nuisance law to include the marketing and sale of a company’s products.

The case was the first opioid trial in the nation. Including Monday’s deal, Oklahoma has reached $680 million in settlements with opioid companies, including Endo, Teva and Purdue Pharma, just before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.