Baltimore accepts $152 million jury award in litigation against opioid distributors

Baltimore accepted a $152 million jury award in its litigation against two pharmaceutical companies — McKesson and Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen) — for their roles in the city's opioid crisis.

City leaders were initially told by a judge that the original settlement awarded by a jury was too high and the city would either have to accept a reduced settlement or go back to trial.

According to our media partners, The Baltimore Banner, a jury of city residents issued a massive $266 million verdict against the drug distributors, following a seven-week trial in 2024. However, the judge ruled in June 2025 that Baltimore could accept a reduced settlement of $52 million, plus an additional abatement of $100 million, which would amend the impacts of the opioid crisis.

"From the beginning, this case has always been about securing justice for Baltimoreans who have been disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said.  "Today's decision is an affirmation of these companies' liability, and the fulfillment of a promise kept to our residents. "

Mayor Scott continued, "While this amount is lower than the jury awarded us, this award still dwarfs the original amount the City would have received, had we not brought this separate litigation on behalf of our city."

This award, combined with the other settlements, brings the total amount the city has won from pharmaceutical companies to nearly $580 million.

Why did Baltimore sue drug companies?

The city accused the drug distributors of contributing to the opioid crisis by failing to monitor and stop suspiciously large orders of opioid painkillers to Baltimore pharmacies.

The Banner also reported that federal drug dispensing data shows the two companies supplied about 60% of the half a billion opioids that flooded Baltimore and Baltimore County between 2006 and 2019.

A June 2024 report published by the Baltimore Banner and the New York Times found that the death toll from opioid deaths among residents reached more than 6,000 over the past six years – more than double that of any other large U.S. city.

How is Baltimore tackling the opioid crisis?

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott recently unveiled the city's preliminary overdose response strategic plan.

The plan is part of an executive order detailing how the city will spend $242.5 million in settlement funds won in a lawsuit against multiple pharmaceutical companies.

In August 2024, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott outlined an executive order that specified how the funds would be used.

According to the mayor, the goals of the city's preliminary plan include addressing inequities in the overdose crisis, dismantling silos and improving connections within care systems, reducing the stigma surrounding care, and improving the quality and accessibility of substance use services across the city.

The executive order established the Baltimore City Opioid Restitution Fund. It also created two new positions to oversee the use of the settlement money and required that the city publish an overdose reduction strategy.

The fund will be managed in an account separate from the general fund so that the money is not misappropriated.

"Generations of Baltimoreans have lost loved ones to substance use as a direct result of the opioids that Big Pharma pushed on our neighborhoods," Mayor Scott said in a statement. "While no amount of money can ever undo that harm, this award will help us expand our recovery programs, prevent future overdose deaths, and finally break the cycle of substance abuse in Baltimore."

Baltimore residents provide input on opioid crisis

Baltimore City recently held a series of public discussions to get community feedback on the overdose reduction plan.

Baltimore residents shared stories of how the opioid crisis and overdoses impacted them.

"I lost my mother in 2016 to a fentanyl overdose, and I suffered from substance use until I got clean," Baltimore resident Donald Young said. "We need to see more efforts like this at the prevention and not wait until there's a mass overdose."

On July 10, 27 people were hospitalized after overdosing in Baltimore's Penn North neighborhood

Community groups handed out Narcan and other resources to those who were impacted.

WJZ got a tour of the Tuerk House in West Baltimore, where some of the survivors of the mass overdose went for treatment.

The survivors were referred to the Tuerk House by local hospitals in the immediate aftermath of the mass overdose. Their rooms are quiet and clinical, yet full of support, with 24-hour nursing staff and access to individual counseling.

"One is downstairs and one is right here in this room," said  Dr. Pierre Thomas. "We have a 50-year-old male patient who came here from the hospital. He's getting his detox. He has a full shower, we have providers, and peer support."