Opioid crisis in the USA: pharmaceutical companies pay millions to indigenous people

In the United States, indigenous people are the group most affected by painkiller addiction. Now the pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and three pharmaceutical wholesalers are to pay a total of 590 million US dollars.

More than 400 indigenous tribes and inter-tribal organizations had sued over the opioid crisis in the US. Now they have reached a $590 million settlement with pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson and the three largest drug distributors, according to a filing with the US District Court of Cleveland. That is about 527 million euros.

The companies are thus taking into account their part in the years of mass trade and abuse of prescription drugs on the reservations. The pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson said the comparison was not an admission of guilt.

Indigenous people have been particularly hard hit by the opioid crisis

Some of the almost 600 indigenous groups and tribes in the USA have already agreed to the settlement. All recognized tribes can take part in the unification, even if they have not complained themselves.

Many indigenous people are particularly hard hit by the opioid crisis. According to one study, they recorded the highest number of opioid overdose cases of any US population in 2015. The number of drug-related deaths in 2016 was twice as high among the Ogalala Lakotas in South Dakota as in the rest of the population.

The money should flow primarily into addiction prevention

Opioids include prescription pain relievers like Oxycontin, but also heroin and illegally manufactured fentanyl. More than 500,000 deaths in the past two decades in the United States have been linked to opioids.

The money from the agreement should flow primarily into addiction prevention and treatment. The settlement will not solve the crisis, but will at least provide urgently needed help in combating it, according to a lawyer for the tribes.

Indigenous tribes are equal participants for the first time

The Cherokee nation reached a $75 million settlement last year. The negotiations for these settlements are the first in which the indigenous tribes such as municipalities and states are represented as equal participants.

With information from Julia Kastein, ARD Studio Washington