Johnson & Johnson agrees to pay $230 mn to settle New York state opioid case

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to a $230 million settlement with New York state that bars the company from promoting opioids and confirmed it has ended distribution of such products within the United States.

New York Attorney General’s office said the agreement bans J&J from promoting opioids through any means and prohibits lobbying about such products at the federal, state or local levels.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that opioid overdoses have killed 500,000 Americans between 1999 and 2019.

Many of those deaths involved prescription painkillers made by drugmakers and prescribed by doctors. 

By settling, J&J will avoid going on trial next week, when New York state is scheduled to face other opioid makers and distributors in court.