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Johnson & Johnson, Opioid Distributors to Pay $590 Million to End Tribe Claims

  • Deal settles Native American lawsuits over mishandling opioids
  • Companies still face thousands of state and municipal suits
Johnson & Johnson headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Johnson & Johnson headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg
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Johnson & Johnson and the three largest U.S. drug distributors agreed to pay about $590 million to more than 400 Native American tribes to settle lawsuits over the opioid epidemic.

McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. will pay $440 million over seven years and J&J will pay $150 million over two years, according to documents filed in federal court on Tuesday. It’s the biggest opioid settlement so far with the tribes, who were among thousands of communities that claimed drug makers, distributors and pharmacies helped fuel abuse of the addictive painkillers.