States Nix $18 Billion Opioid Sellers’ Settlement Offer (2)

21 U.S. states are rejecting an $18 billion offer by McKesson Corp. and other opioid distributors to resolve nationwide litigation over their handling of the highly addictive painkillers, according to people familiar with the talks.

In a letter sent to lawyers for McKesson, Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. earlier this week, the states’ attorneys general said the distributors’ settlement offer is unacceptable “as currently structured.” The companies would pay the combined $18 billion over 18 years according to the deal’s current iteration. The one-paragraph letter’s first three signatures were from the attorneys general of Florida, Ohio and Connecticut.

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