Drug Distributors To Pay Up To $1.1B To Settle New York Opioid Claims

by Vandana Singh, Benzinga Editor

July 20, 2021 10:47 AM | 1 min read

McKesson Corporation MCK, Cardinal Health Inc CAH, and AmerisourceBergen Corp ABC have agreed to pay up to $1.179 billion to settle claims by New York state and two of its biggest counties over their role in the U.S. opioid epidemic.
The drug distributors settled as state attorneys general prepare to announce a $26 billion deal with the distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson JNJ, resolving cases as soon as this week.
The CDC last week said provisional data showed that 2020 was a record year for drug overdose deaths with 93,331, up 29% from a year earlier. Opioids were involved in 74.7%, or 69,710, of those fatalities.
Price Action: MCK shares are up 6.5% at $200.53, and ABC shares are +6.1% at $119.45, and CAH stock is +6.4% at $59.62 in the market session on the last check Tuesday.