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Dr. David Bauer: Your Immune System Will DIE.

yellowgenius
yellowgenius - 3,174 Views
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3,174 Views
Published on 22 Jul 2021 / In Health

These Injections Kill Every Immune System They Touch.

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Johnny Exodice
Johnny Exodice 3 years ago

Under the settlement proposal, the three largest U.S. drug distributors -- McKesson Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and AmerisourceBergen Corp -- are expected to pay a combined $21 billion, while drugmaker Johnson & Johnson would pay $5 billion.

The money is expected to be used on addiction treatment, family support, education and other social programs.

"There's not enough money in the world, frankly, to address the pain and suffering," said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, but added that the money will "help where help is needed."

The deal represents the second-largest cash settlement ever, trailing only the $246 billion tobacco agreement in 1998. Attorneys general from 15 states were involved in negotiating the deal, as were lead lawyers for local governments.

McKesson will pay up to $7.9 billion, while AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal each agreed to provide up to $6.4 billion. The payments will be made over 18 years.

J&J will pay over nine years, with up to $3.7 billion paid during the first three years.

Around $2.2 billion of the total would cover attorneys fees and legal costs.

"This settlement will directly support state and local efforts to make meaningful progress in addressing the opioid crisis," said Michael Ullmann, Johnson & Johnson's general counsel.

To receive the full payout, the agreement needs support from at least 48 states, 98% of litigating local governments and 97% of the jurisdictions that have yet to sue.

The distributors were accused of lax controls that allowed massive amounts of addictive painkillers to be diverted into illegal channels, devastating communities, while J&J was accused of downplaying the addiction risk in its opioid marketing.

The companies have denied the allegations.

The settlement also calls for the creation of an independent clearinghouse to provide the distributors and state regulators aggregated data about drug shipments, which negotiators hope will help prevent abuse.

In a joint statement, the distributors called the settlement an important step "toward achieving broad resolution of governmental opioid claims and delivering meaningful relief to communities across the United States."

More than 3,000 lawsuits related to the health crisis, mostly by state and local governments, have been filed, and the settlement's ultimate payout depends on the number of localities that agree to drop their lawsuits.

Other settlements are also being negotiated, with the opioid makers Purdue Pharma and Mallinckrodt Plc working through the bankruptcy courts to secure support for settlements worth more than $10 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively.

States will have 30 days to evaluate Wednesday's agreement. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said the expectation is "well north of 40 will sign on."

The opioid crisis has been blamed for hundreds of thousands of U.S. overdose deaths since 1999, but has hit some regions much harder than others, creating divisions among governments when it comes to considering the settlement.

"States that don't sign on are being irresponsible," said Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. "We don't want perfect to be the enemy of the good."

Shares of the distributors each rose about 1.5%, while J&J, which also reported quarterly results on Wednesday, rose about 0.6%. Shares in the companies had climbed on Tuesday in anticipation of the announcement.

"NOT NEARLY GOOD ENOUGH"

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