In the largest opioid settlement for Native Americans, the country’s three major drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson will pay up to $665 million to the tribal communities devastated by the public health crisis, which has killed them at a disproportionate rate compared with non-Natives.
More than six months after finalizing similar terms with states, counties and cities for $26 billion, McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen reached a deal to pay $515 million over six years to the federally recognized tribes while Johnson & Johnson would distribute $150 million in two years, according to court documents filed Tuesday. More than 400 tribes sued the companies, claiming they were inundated with highly addictive painkillers manufactured by J&J and shipped by the distributors without regard for the clear signs of abuse and death. The companies deny wrongdoing, saying they complied with federal drug laws.
“This is epic,” said Lloyd Miller, one of the lead attorneys representing a third of the litigating tribes. “The need is just too great in Indian Country. This settlement is a real turning point in history.”
Johnson & Johnson said in a statement that its “actions relating to the marketing and promotion of important prescription opioid medications were appropriate and responsible,” adding that the drugmaker no longer sells prescription opioids in the United States. The three distributors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma announced in September that it would receive $75 million, which is a part of the funds from the major three drug distributors.
The deal also comes months before the first federal opioid trial for a Native American tribe, with the Cherokee Nation’s lawsuit against CVS, Walgreens and Walmart starting in September in Oklahoma federal court.
This resolution speeds up the process of getting funds, as the sprawling opioid litigation throughout the country has taken years to reach courtrooms. The money from this deal would go toward programs that aid drug users and their communities - a help to tribal governments bearing severe financial burdens for the health care, social services, child welfare and law enforcement resources expended during the opioid crisis. About 15% of funds will go toward attorneys’ fees.
Miller said that tribal leadership had to weigh possibly earning more money after years of trials and appeals vs. receiving the much-needed funds within a month of finalizing this deal. “They’ve got tribal citizens who are suffering and need relief,” he said, “and that factors more than anything in the final calculus.”
For the tribes to receive the full amount from the companies, 95% of the litigating tribes must agree to settle, as well as at least 14 of the 17 non-litigating tribes of more than 5,000 members for the distributors’ deal.
Nationwide, from 2006 to 2014, Native Americans were nearly 50% more likely to die of an opioid overdose than non-Natives, according to a Washington Post analysis.