Health-care companies were flat as negotiations on opioid settlements neared resolution.
States are asking for around $26.4 billion from major pharmaceutical industry players to help pay for damage wrought by the opioid crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported, the latest demand in years-long litigation seeking to hold companies accountable for widespread drug addiction.
The current talks involve McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health, which collectively distribute the majority of pharmaceutical drugs in the country, and health-care conglomerate Johnson & Johnson, which makes some opioid painkillers, the people said.
Litigation, launched by states' attorneys general and other local authorities, drove one company, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP, into bankruptcy, and shareholders have looked for the remaining defendants to reach deals to cap their liability, as reported earlier.
Federal prosecutors accused Teva Pharmaceutical Industries' U.S. business of violating an anti-kickback law by using charitable donations to shield Medicare patients from rising costs of a multiple sclerosis drug in an effort to maintain sales growth.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
