Arizona could receive as much as $549 million in a share of a $26 billion multistage national settlement with four pharmaceutical companies that is close to being finalized, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced Monday.
The potential settlement would require pharmaceutical distributors Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen to pay up to $21 billion over 18 years and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactures and markets opioid drugs, to pay up to $5 billion over nine years, with up to $3.7 billion paid during the first three years.
Johnson & Johnson would also be required to stop selling opioids for 10 years as well as halt other activities related to the promotion of opioids. The three distributors would be required to establish a centralized independent data clearinghouse about where drugs are going and how often, detect suspicious opioid orders from customer pharmacies and take specified actions when suspicious activities are identified.
The AG’s office said a critical mass of participating state and local governments must sign on to the deal in order for it to be finalized.
