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The
New Brunswick, New Jersey-based drugmaker said the $44 million
was consistent with the terms of a proposal for J&J and drug
distributors McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal
Health Inc to pay up to $26 billion to resolve the cases
nationally.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, a Democrat,
initially declined to take part in those settlements but last
month said his state would participate in the distributors' $21
billion deal. He did not join J&J's $5 billion deal at that
time.
Under Friday's accord, J&J agreed to pay New Mexico its share of
the nationwide settlement in 2022, rather than over several
years, if all of the state's local governments signed on by May
31.
"Opioids have destroyed families in New Mexico, and local
communities and addiction professionals still need vital funding
to save lives and fight this ongoing tragic epidemic," Balderas
said in a statement.
J&J did not admit wrongdoing and in a statement said it
appropriately marketed its pain medications.
More than 3,300 lawsuits, largely by state and local
governments, are pending, seeking to hold those and other
companies responsible for an opioid abuse crisis that has led to
hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths.
How much of the $26 billion the companies ultimately must pay
and how much outstanding litigation they will face depends on
state and local government participation.
Settlement supporters have extended to Jan. 26 a deadline for
cities and counties in states that backed the proposal to opt-in
to the deals, citing the potential for more states to join.
Nevada and Georgia agreed this month to settle with the
companies. Six states have not settled with some or all of the
four companies.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham,
Leslie Adler and Jonathan Oatis)
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