(New York) Hundreds of Native American tribes, which have paid a heavy price for the opiate crisis in the United States, are set to receive $665 million from four major pharmaceutical groups after several agreements ending their lawsuits.
Posted at 4:59 p.m.
The distributors, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health, had already struck a separate deal with the Cherokee Tribe in September for $75 million.
According to a document filed Tuesday in court, they also agreed to pay $440 million over seven years to other Native American tribes.
The pharmaceutical group Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay 150 million dollars over two years to these tribes.
The opiate crisis, the cause of more than 500,000 overdose deaths in 20 years in the United States, has triggered a flurry of litigation in the United States from direct victims and many communities (cities, counties, states… ).
Native American tribes have been particularly affected, the agreement recalls.
For example, they suffered in 2015 from the highest rate of overdose deaths per capita and also experienced, from 1999 to 2015, the largest percentage increase in the number of overdose deaths compared to other racial and ethnic groups, indicates a document on file.
“Because of this, tribal governments across the United States have had to spend vast sums to cover the costs of the opioid crisis, including higher costs for health care, social services, life protection ‘Childhood, Law Enforcement,’ the agreement added.
These expenditures “diverted scarce tribal funds from other needs” and “imposed heavy financial burdens” on the tribes.
Culturally sensitive services
Douglas Yankton, president of Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota, welcomed the deal.
“The money that will be granted to the tribes […] will help implement essential services, on the reservations, respectful of our cultures,” he commented in a statement released by the law firm representing his tribe, Robins Kaplan.
All tribes recognized by the US government, 574 in total, will be able to participate in the agreement, even if they have not taken legal action.
The agreement “comes at a critical time to address drug addiction and prevention needs, as drug overdose deaths in the United States have increased by nearly 30% in 2020”, underlined the law firm.
It has yet to be accepted by most tribes, the lawyers added, noting also that lawsuits by Native American tribes against other groups are still ongoing.
AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson and Johnson & Johnson agreed last summer to pay $26 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits as part of a sweeping settlement with multiple communities.
Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday that the $150 million the company had agreed to pay as part of the settlement with the Native American tribes would be withdrawn from this more comprehensive agreement and stressed that it did not constitute “an admission of liability or of wrongdoing”.
The company “will continue to defend itself against any litigation that the final agreement does not resolve,” Johnson & Johnson said in a message.
Asked by AFP, the other companies did not immediately specify whether the 440 million they had agreed to pay collectively to the Native American tribes were part of the 26 billion agreement.