From Investing.com: 2024-06-07 18:25:15

A court-appointed panel recommended how to allocate a $2.13 billion legal fee pool from nationwide drug industry settlements over the U.S. opioid crisis. Top firms like Motley Rice, Simmons Hanly Conroy, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein will receive millions of dollars each.

The funds come from settlements exceeding $46 billion with drugmakers, distributors, and pharmacies accused of fueling an epidemic of opioid addiction. The money will compensate law firms for their work benefiting all plaintiffs in the litigation.

Judge Dan Polster gave firms until June 21 to appeal the panel’s recommendations before they become final. Settlements involve companies like Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Teva Pharmaceutical, Cardinal Health, CVS, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Walmart.

Excluded from the settlements is Purdue Pharma’s up to $6 billion deal funded by the Sackler family. The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing the legality of this settlement. Total opioid settlements exceed $50 billion, but plans for spending the money to address opioid-related harms remain undeveloped by many state and local governments.

Data from the CDC show that over 800,000 people died from opioid overdoses from 1999 to 2023. Lawsuit plaintiffs allege drugmakers minimized risks, and distributors and pharmacies ignored red flags indicating illegal channels for opioids.



Read more at Investing.com: Top law firms in US opioid lawsuits to get hundreds of millions in fees By Reuters