The settlement involved the 3 leading US drug distributors – Cardinal Health, Amerisource Bergen, and McKesson Corp and Israel's generic drug manufacturer Teva.
Although the deal involved only Cuyahoba and Summit counties of Ohio, it stands as a possible a bellwether for states, cities, counties and Native American communities around the country. Johnson & Johnson had previously broken away with its own settlement, a $20.4 million deal with the two Ohio counties, which encompass the cities of Cleveland and Akron.
But the parties could not come to an agreement on a proposed settlement valued at $48 billion, including $18 billion in cash, after meetings on Friday.But other states and many smaller litigants were dissatisfied with the amount, the size of the cash component, lawyers' fees and the way the money would be distributed.
The Society of Actuaries report projects that for this year alone the cost could be $172-214 billion.