McKesson Board Agrees to $175 Million Accord in Opioid Case
- Investors sued drug distributor’s board over opioid supervison
- Directors’ insurance policies to cover the settlement’s costs
McKesson Corp.’s board reached a $175 million settlement with investors who claimed directors failed to maintain adequate internal systems for spotting suspicious opioid shipments, as the U.S.’s largest drug distributor continues to grapple with claims it helped fuel a public-health crisis tied to the painkillers.
As part of the accord, McKesson executives also agreed to beef up the company’s corporate-governance protections by separating the role of the chief executive officer and board chairman and toughening bonus claw-back policies for officials who don’t perform properly, according to court filings in California and Delaware. The money from the so-called derivative settlement -- coming from directors’ insurance policies -- goes into the company’s coffers.
McKesson investors overcame “steep odds to obtain a remarkable settlement,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers said last month in a motion seeking preliminary approval for the deal from U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland, California. A court filing in a similar case in state court in Delaware Thursday also referenced the deal.