McKesson opioid settlement overview:
- Who: McKesson Corp., Cencora Inc. and Cardinal Health have reached a $300 million class action settlement.
- Why: The McKesson settlement will resolve claims from health insurers and benefit plans over the drug distributorsโ alleged role in the opioid crisis.
- Where: The opioid class action lawsuit was filed in Ohio federal court.
Three of the countryโs largest drug distributors have reached a $300 million class action settlement over allegations they contributed to the opioid crisis, Reuters reports.
McKesson Corp., Cencora Inc. and Cardinal Health deny any wrongdoing but agreed to settle the McKesson opioid class action lawsuit to escape claims from health insurance companies and benefit plans over the drug companiesโ alleged failure to regulate the amount of opioid painkillers to be sold through illegal channels.
Paul Geller, one of the plaintiffsโ lawyers, said the McKesson settlement covered third-party payers that โlargely paid for the overprescribed and overmarketed pills and for the treatment required when their plan beneficiaries inevitably suffered opioid use disorder.โ
The proposed settlement class includes insurance companies and benefit plans that paid for or were reimbursed for prescription opioid drugs manufactured or distributed by the defendants and/or that incurred costs for treatment related to misuse, addiction and/or overdose of opioid drugs since Jan. 1, 1996.
McKesson will pay approximately 38% of the $300 million McKesson settlement amount, while Cardinal and Cenora will pay about 31%.
The plaintiffs have asked an Ohio federal judge to preliminarily approve the McKesson opioid settlement.
McKesson settlement part of effort to seek accountability for opioid crisis
Thousands of opioid lawsuits have been filed with the goal of holding drug manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies accountable for fueling the opioid crisis and hundreds of thousands of opioid overdoses in the United States over the last two decades.
More than $50 billion in settlements have been reached to date. Most of the opioid settlements have been reached with states and local governments.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals recently agreed to pay $150 million to escape allegations it failed to report suspicious opioid orders made by potentially illegal distributors. A California federal judge also recently approved a $78 million settlement over allegations McKinsey and Co. deceptively advertised its opioid prescription drugs.
What do you think about the McKesson settlement agreement? Join the discussion in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by Paul J. Geller and Mark J. Dearman of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP; Elizabeth J. Cabraser and Eric B. Fastiff of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP; Peter H. Weinberger of Spangenberg Shibley & Liber; Jayne Conroy of Simmons Hanly Conroy; Joseph F. Rice of Motley Rice; and Paul T. Farrell Jr. of Farrell & Fuller LLC.
The McKesson opioid settlement is In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, Case No. 1:17-md-02804-DAP, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.
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132 thoughts onMcKesson, Cardinal, Cencora to pay $300M settlement over role in opioid epidemic
Can I please be added?
Yes please reach out to me it flip my world upside down and took me over 15 years to get clean after i lost everything and everyone
Please add me to this, itโs been years taking these what so called medication!!!
Hello could I please be contacted about this lawsuit because of the effect it had on me and everyone around me
I need to be added. I got norco for foot pain. And ultimately lost my children because I could no longer get my medication and had to substitute.
Please add me to the list! I lived a nightmare life
This is so messed up. Every month when the doctor prescribes the pain medication for severe back issues from a previous car accident it becomes a nightmare trying to find a pharmacy that has the medication. 2 months back it took 5 days to find a pharmacy that could fill hydrocodone. The past year it has got to the point that I have to call around to pharmacies the day before the appointment to make sure that a pharmacy that I have used before has them and this is because no new pharmacy will fill a prescription for pain medication without answering 50 questions and this and that. My doctor has even called the pharmacist and was told by one pharmacist that she will fill her customers that she has been having for over 2 years first. The doctor even changed the strength of the pain medication in hopes of being able to have the prescription filled. These prescriptions CAN NOT be transferred. If the pharmacy the doctor sends it in to doesnt have any, and I find another pharmacy that does, I will have to go thru hoops and hurdles and multiple phone calls to reach the doctor so that he can send in another prescription to this pharmacy. I went thru this and by the time the doctorโs office had a chance to send in another prescription then the pharmacy was already out of the medication!!!!! So here I go with the same BS trying to find a pharmacy that has some and hopefully get a message to the doctor to call in another prescription. And when this happens on a Friday, It is NOT until Monday or Tuesday before I can get this resolved. YES, we are being treated and talked to as if we are drug addicts or worse.
Yes you are so right!!!!!
I have experienced everything you have talked about. Itโs very sad when you get mistreated.
How do I get in on this lawsuit? So far the government gets it all. I went from making more money than I knew what to do with to living on the streets. I was prescribed oxycodone for 8 years and they put my doctor in prison. They left me so sick I almost died. Canโt cold turkey that. Now I have opiate use disorder and PAWS. Ruined my life. I should get millions for what happened to me but Iโll never see a dime Iโm sure
I have contacted u before after numerous surgeries for intestinal blockages. No reply!!!!!! Why would I think u would contact me for being addicted after they screwed up my bowelsโฆ..HMMMMM. 63 and RN x40 yrs n ER. U coulda helped
Opioids killed my husband. Every time I think about how I begged them to stop giving him 100 pain pills and 190 gabapentin I canโt control my tears. I have years of videos of watching my husband die every time he picked up his pain pills. No one listen to me. No one hurt my pain. No one cared.
Because of erroneous data reporting (not separating out street drugs from prescription opioids) those with chronic pain can no longer get their necessary pain medication and are being treated as drug addicts! People have committed suicide because they couldnโt get paid relief! Those that started this war on opioids are murderers and should be held accountable!