CHARLESTON, WV (WOAY) – In an announcement made on Monday, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says that his office has reached a $99 million settlement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.
The office alleges that Janssen and co-defendant Johnson & Johnson’s conduct and campaign of misrepresentation led to the common use of opioids and allowed the epidemic to flourish in the Mountain State.
It’s now one of the companies involved in the ongoing trial in Kanawha County Circuit Court. The amount is more than double the company’s national settlement proposal of $48 million.
The office is still asserting the other pharmaceutical companies, Teva and Allergan are also held accountable.
“We are pleased with the settlement because we think it represents a major step forward to start to get money in the door to help West Virginians who have been devasted by the opioid epidemic,” Morrisey says. “We’re going to make sure we have accountability within the pharmaceutical supply channel against any individual or entity that had some role in the creation and the maintenance of this epidemic.”
According to the settlement, cities and counties throughout West Virginia will receive a lump sum payment of $99 million within 45 days.
