Idaho officials announce $119 million settlement with J&J in opioid accountability lawsuit

Idaho leaders announced on Monday they had finalized a $119 million settlement with pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, as well as three drug distributors, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, in relation to their roles in the opioid crisis in the state.

Republican Gov. Brad Little and Republican Attorney General Lawrence Wasden announced the legal victory on Friday.

“Idaho has made significant strides in recent years in combating the opioid crisis, and the culmination of our legal action against opioid manufacturers – led by Attorney General Wasden and his team – now offers additional resources,” Little said in a statement. “Altogether, our investments and activities will turn the tide on the opioid crisis.”

Wasden added, “This settlement holds some of those most responsible for the opioid crisis accountable and provides significant funding for treatment, recovery and prevention in Idaho. These funds will be a huge asset to our state as it continues its recovery from the opioid crisis.”

The new Idaho settlement funds will be used to address the damage caused by the over-prescription and resulting addiction crisis in Idahoan communities. The federal government declared the opioid crisis a national health emergency in 2017, settling with Johnson & Johnson and the same three distributors in a national case for $26 billion.

Idaho is one of the states that signed on to the suit, and the settlement amount was determined by adding more for each local government that chose to take part to the $64 million minimum to be awarded to each state that was part of the suit.

According to Little and Wasden, the $119 million settlement is the state’s second-largest settlement in history, following only the 1998 national tobacco settlement of $712 million. Johnson & Johnson will pay out their $21 million share of the money to Idaho over a period of nine years, while the three distributors will pay out about $98 million over eighteen years.