FILE – Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden during an interview in Boise, Idaho, on March 1, 2017. Idaho officials on Friday, May 13, 2022, have announced a $119 million settlement with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three major distributors over their role in the opioid addiction crisis. Republican Attorney General Wasden said it’s the second-largest consumer settlement in state history, trailing only the 1998 national tobacco settlement of $712 million. (Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman via AP, File)
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho officials have announced a $119 million settlement with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three major distributors over their role in the opioid addiction crisis.
Republican Gov. Brad Little and Republican Attorney General Lawrence Wasden on Friday said it’s the second-largest consumer settlement in state history, trailing only the 1998 national tobacco settlement. All 44 Idaho counties have agreed to the settlement, as have 24 cities and the state’s seven health districts.
The money will address damage wrought by opioids, which the federal government declared a public health emergency in 2017.
Johnson & Johnson and the three distributors agreed to a national $26 billion settlement in February.
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