By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) stock and others accused of fueling the U.S. opioid crisis were among the gainers in Tuesday’s premarket trading, on reports that they are near to a $26 billion settlement of multiple lawsuits in various states.
J&J was up 0.6%, AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) was up 1.4%, McKesson (NYSE:MCK) 1.2% and Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) 1%.
According to separate reports by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, J&J would pay $5 billion over nine years while McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen have indicated in filings a likely pay out of $21 billion over 18 years.
The details of the settlement could be made Wednesday, a report by the news agency said.
More than 40 states are likely to sign the deal while others are expected to move ahead with existing court cases already set for trial, Bloomberg said.
The agreement put behind a major overhang for companies seeking to end legal liabilities from their role in the opioid epidemic that gripped the country for more than two decades starting in 90s.
What began as a prescription in early 1990s for treating pain and alleviating the suffering of cancer patients grew to being widely given to patients with a much broader range of ailments. The prescriptions became more frequent, the dosage higher and illegal usage widespread.
According to federal figures, the country lost nearly half a million people to overdoses of prescription and illegal opioids between 1999 and 2019.