Three large US drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson will proceed with a proposed US$26 billion settlement resolving claims that they fueled the opioid epidemic after"enough" states joined in, the companies said on Saturday .
The distributors said 42 states, five territories and Washington, DC, signed on to their agreement. The exact tally for J&J's related deal was not immediately clear. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a lead settlement negotiator, called the support level a"remarkable showing of unity and commitment across the country to address this problem."
Eight states had previously said they had not fully signed on by an Aug 21 deadline: Alabama, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Washington, West Virginia.