Intended for healthcare professionals
The United States’ biggest ongoing lawsuit could be drawing to a close after an agreement under which Johnson & Johnson and three drug distribution companies offered to pay $26bn (£18.9bn; €22bn) to resolve thousands of outstanding claims from states, counties, cities, and health authorities that these companies fuelled the deadly US opioid epidemic.
The three distributors—Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson—which between them provide most of the drugs carried by US pharmacies, were accused of ignoring implausibly large orders and other clear signs that the opioids they sold were being misused despite having a legal obligation to report unusual buying patterns. They have collectively agreed to pay $21bn over 18 years.
Johnson & Johnson, which sold fentanyl patches and imported most of the raw opium used by other US manufacturers, was accused of misleading doctors and patients about these drugs’ potential for addiction. …
BMA Member Log In
If you have a subscription to The BMJ, log in:
Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.
Subscribe
* For online subscription
Access this article for 1 day for:
£30 / $37 / €33 (excludes VAT)
You can download a PDF version for your personal record.
Buy this article
Respond to this article
Register for alerts
If you are unable to import citations, please contact technical support for your product directly (links go to external sites):
Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about The BMJ.
NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. 
Read related article
See previous polls