Posted on 09/16/24
| News Source: WMAR2NEWS
Baltimore, Md - Sept. 16, 2024 - Baltimore City has settled another opioid lawsuit and this time it's with Johnson & Johnson.
The details of the settlement weren't disclosed.
This news comes a week after the city settled with the Walgreens Pharamacy and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
Teva will pay the city $80 million and the full terms of the Walgreens agreement will be made public on October 3.
The city will put $5 million of the funds toward promoting the "988" suicide/crisis hotline, $3 million toward the Penn North Recovery Center, and $2 million toward BMore Power, as agreed on in the settlement.
Teva will make an initial payment of $35 million by the end of the year, and the rest by July 1, 2025.
Baltimore sued "Big Pharma" - multiple major manufacturers and distributors of pharmaceuticals - and claimed that the companies took part in "fraudulent and reckless marketing of opioids."
Baltimore has also settled with Allergen, the pharmaceutical company that now operates under the parent company AbbVie, for $45 million.
In a statement from the City announcing the settlement, they say that the two opioid drugs produced by Allergan, Kadian and Norco, "made up less than half a percent of the opioids sent to Baltimore pharmacies."
Along with those funds, the city has reached a total of $242.5 million in settlement funds against other major pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors.