Johnson & Johnson has reached a settlement with the state of New York to end its opioid business, the corporation confirmed on Saturday.
As part of the agreement, Johnson & Johnson is ordered to pay $230 million to New York, as well as an additional $30 million in the first year if the state passes legislation creating an opioid settlement fund. The company and all of its subsidiaries, predecessors, and successors are also directed to stop manufacturing or selling opioids anywhere in New York, Attorney General Letitia James’s office said in a press release.
“The opioid epidemic has wreaked havoc on countless communities across New York state and the rest of the nation, leaving millions still addicted to dangerous and deadly opioids,” James said. “Johnson & Johnson helped fuel this fire, but today, they’re committing to leaving the opioid business — not only in New York, but across the entire country. Opioids will no longer be manufactured or sold in the United States by J&J.”
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James added that “while no amount of money will ever compensate for the thousands who lost their lives or became addicted to opioids across our state or provide solace to the countless families torn apart by this crisis,” the settlement funds will help “prevent any future devastation.”
Johnson & Johnson said in a press statement that the settlement is “not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by the Company,” adding that “the Company’s actions relating to the marketing and promotion of important prescription pain medications were appropriate and responsible.”
“Janssen developed two prescription opioid medicines — a patch and a crush-resistant tablet — designed to help patients suffering from pain. DURAGESIC®, NUCYNTA®, and NUCYNTA® ER have accounted for less than one percent of total opioid prescriptions in the U.S. since launch,” the company said. “Although these products are no longer sold in the U.S., the Company continues to work with partners to help families and communities address their opioid-related issues.”
The lawsuit, first filed in March 2019, alleged that six national prescription opioid manufacturers, the Sackler family, and four national prescription drug distributors were “largely responsible for creating the opioid epidemic that has ravaged New York, causing widespread addiction, overdose deaths, and suffering,” according to the attorney general’s office.
“The opioid epidemic has ravaged families and communities across New York,” James said at the time. “We found that pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors engaged in years of deceptive marketing about the risks of opioids and failed to exercise their basic duty to report suspicious behavior, leading to the crisis we are living with today. As the Sackler Family and the other defendants grew richer, New Yorkers’ health grew poorer and our state was left to foot the bill. The manufacturers and distributors of opioids are to blame for this crisis and it is past time they take responsibility.”
In 2019, nearly 50,000 people in the U.S. died from opioid-involved overdoses, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The misuse of and addiction to opioids has created a “serious national crisis,” with the misuse of prescription opioids alone resulting in a total “economic burden” of $78.5 billion annually, the institute added.
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Johnson & Johnson made headlines in recent months when some people developed rare blood clots after receiving the company’s COVID-19 vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration, which had granted the company emergency use authorization in February, recommended a pause on the administration of the vaccine on April 13. The pause was lifted 10 days later.
New York’s trial against the remaining defendants, in which James vowed to “lay bare the callous and deadly pattern of misconduct these companies perpetrated as they dealt dangerous and addictive opioids across our state,” will begin next week.
