OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state attorney general announced a $149.5 million settlement Wednesday with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, more than four years after the state sued the company over its role fueling the opioid addiction crisis. If approved, the deal would send over $20 million more to respond to the opioid crisis than if the state had signed onto a national settlement in 2021 involving Johnson & Johnson, the attorney general’s office said. Washington state’s Democratic attorney general sued Johnson & Johnson in 2020, alleging that it helped drive the pharmaceutical industry’s expansion of prescription opioids. “The Company’s actions relating to the marketing and promotion of important prescription opioid medications were appropriate and responsible,” according to the statement. The attorney general’s office noted that the company was one of the largest suppliers of the raw narcotic materials needed to produce opioid drugs.

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Persons: drugmaker Johnson, Johnson, Bob Ferguson, Democratic Sen, June Robinson, Geoff Mulvihill Organizations: Washington State Department of Health, Johnson, Democratic Locations: The Washington, U.S, Washington, Cherry Hill , New Jersey