(RepublicanDaily.org) – The opioid crisis continues to ravage the United States. Statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) show over 1.2 million Americans are currently receiving medical treatment for addiction to opiates, and over 760,000 people in the US have died from drug overdoses over the last 23 years. Many people critics Big Pharma for this tragic state of affairs, and one of the industry’s largest players now has to pay up over the issue.
On Monday, April 18, the Wall Street Journal reported pharmaceuticals giant Johnson & Johnson is set to pay $99 million to settle a West Virginia lawsuit that alleges the company contributed to the opioid crisis in the state. The company previously offered $48 million to the state to settle the matter without any admission of wrongdoing, but the state’s leadership wanted to push for more.
This isn’t the only lawsuit of this nature where Johnson & Johnson has had to defend itself. Earlier this year, the massive company paid $5 billion to settle an action by other state and local governments. West Virginia did not collect a check from that lawsuit.
Johnson & Johnson will pay $99 million to settle a lawsuit in West Virginia that alleges the company helped fuel the state’s opioid crisis, removing the company from a trial that began this month https://t.co/ioAq9leAHs
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 18, 2022
Is it only fair companies like Johnson & Johnson pick up the tab for the harm opiate-based drugs have caused?
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