Oklahoma reaches $250 mln settlement with 3 drug firms

June 27, Reuters- Oklahoma reached a $250 million settlement with AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp to resolve allegations that the drug distributors contributed to the opioid epidemic in the state, Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor said on Monday.

O'Connor said that Oklahoma recovered more money from the distributors than the state would have received if it had joined a $26 billion settlement announced last year.

Johnson Johnson Oklahoma sued J&J separately, but in November the case was thrown out on appeal, negating a $465 million trial judgment the state won and undermining Oklahoma's legal theories in its opioid litigation.

The companies didn't respond immediately to requests for comment.

Oklahoma was the last state to pursue litigation related to opioids against the three distributors. Alabama is still suing Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen after settling with McKesson. Local governments in West Virginia are pursuing cases after the state settled.

Oklahoma will use at least 85% of the funds to help with the opioid addiction crisis in the state, according to O'Connor.

The distributors denied wrongdoing in the epidemic, which has caused more than 500,000 deaths of U.S. overdose deaths over the past two decades, according to government data.