I am rejecting a settlement with opioid distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and Johnson & Johnson. Instead, in six weeks my legal team and I are heading for trial in a Seattle courtroom against these multinational corporations.
This is one of the most important trials I have taken on as the People’s Attorney — and one of the most important in Washington state history — so I want to explain why I’m taking these companies to court. Then I’d like to hear from you.
The opioid epidemic robbed thousands of Washingtonians of their lives and devastated families across our state. These corporations fueled the epidemic with their complicity and greed. They must be held fully accountable for their actions.
The proposed settlement is not nearly good enough for our state. It’s a far cry from true accountability: it stretches out an insufficient payment into small installments over nearly two decades — $30 million per year, which would have to be divided up among more than 300 Washington cities and counties.
If all 50 states joined, the total settlement amount would equal only 4% of these megacorporations' annual revenues. That’s just the cost of doing business.
In the coming weeks, I will be preparing to hold these opioid distributors accountable for the devastating impact of their actions on Washington. This settlement does not provide nearly enough for our state to address the opioid epidemic. Do you agree? Let me know:
Washington families devastated by the opioid epidemic deserve so much more — they deserve accountability and they deserve their day in court.
These corporations fueled the crisis and devastated Washington communities. Individuals who have lost family members to the epidemic come up to me at events and ask me to fight for their loved ones.
Every trial contains risk. But my team has worked for years to fend off dozens of motions from these drug companies’ corporate lawyers seeking to delay and avoid accountability. I promise to settle for a transformative amount of resources to help Washington address the crisis and end the epidemic. We have lost too many lives already.
I’m looking forward to walking into a Washington state courtroom to hold these powerful corporations accountable.
Please, let me know if you think 4% of these corporations’ annual revenues constitutes real accountability, or if you agree that I should proceed to trial in pursuit of justice: https://go.bobferguson.com/a/opioid-settlement
Thanks for everything.
— Bob
