Cencora (NYSE:COR) directors have agreed to pay more than $111M in cash to resolve claims by pension funds that they failed to take adequate measures to prevent the company’s involvement in the U.S. opioid crisis, Bloomberg News reported, citing court documents.
According to a filing in the Delaware Chancery Court on Friday, the deal relates to a case filed by Lebanon County Employees Retirement Fund and a Teamsters health services and insurance plan in 2021.
Following the intervention of a mediator in July, Cencora (NYSE:COR), previously known as AmerisourceBergen, agreed to the deal in exchange for a $111.2M cash payment, the court filings suggest.
The lawsuit had accused Cencora (NYSE:COR) directors of “failing to adopt, implement, or oversee reasonable policies and practices to prevent the unlawful distribution of opioids” and ignoring “evidence of widespread illegal opioid sales.”
Separately in 2021, Cencora (COR) and its rival medical distributors McKesson (MCK) and Cardinal Health (CAH), along with J&J (JNJ), reached a $26B deal with a group of state attorneys general to settle claims that they helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic.