Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery on Friday announced a final agreement between large opioid distributors, Johnson & Johnson, and attorneys general throughout the country.
According to the final details, Tennessee will receive approximately $600 million over 18 years to help combat the opioid crisis. The three distributors, Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen, along with Johnson & Johnson, will begin to make payments on April 2, 2022.
“Help is on the way,” said Slatery. “Our objective – and the reason we have aggressively held these companies accountable from the start – is to abate the crisis in Tennessee by providing direct assistance to those hit the hardest. We are grateful to our AG colleagues and our state and local leaders for their help and cooperation.”
Tennessee has been ravaged by the ongoing crisis, experiencing 1,304 opioid deaths in 2018. Furthermore, according to data from the state Department of Health, 927 babies were born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome that same year.
In addition to the payments, Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen agreed to a host of actions. For example, they must “use data-driven systems to detect suspicious opioid orders from customer pharmacies, prohibit shipping of and report suspicious opioid orders, and require senior corporate officials to engage in regular oversight of anti-diversion efforts.”
Johnson & Johnson consented to stop selling opioids.
“This agreement has received remarkable support from states and local governments. That widespread participation underscores how meaningful these funds will be in our fight against the opioid crisis. Almost all of the money will be used to support the most effective solutions to help people struggling with substance use disorders. This agreement represents our most significant opportunity to help hundreds of thousands of people across the nation regain their health and control over their lives,” the group of attorneys general who negotiated the settlement said in a statement previously.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Sure wish Slatery was as aggressive on illegal actions by the federal government. He needs to look to other states such as Texas to get a clue.
More evidence Covid was tinkered with in a lab? Now scientists find virus contains tiny chunk of DNA that matches sequence patented by Moderna THREE YEARS before pandemic began?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10542309/Fresh-lab-leak-fears-study-finds-genetic-code-Covids-spike-protein-linked-Moderna-patent.html?ref_src=aimlessnews
How interesting! The opiod crisis which McKinsey Company help foist upon rural America is perhaps coming to a slow close, yet the Big M is still embroiled in destroying American life, with it’s involvement in this SmartDevelopment BS!
The fact is, we don’t need a bunch of “done nothing” Ivy League MBA elitists who other than knowing somebody’s grand-daddy’s grand-daddy, can’t find their way out of a paper sack, running ANYTHING!