Shares of McKesson Corp.
MCK,
+6.15%,
Cardinal Health Inc.
CAH,
+5.87%
and AmerisourceBergen Corp.
ABC,
+5.88%
all surged more than 4% in morning trading Tuesday, after the New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a $1.1 billion settlement agreement with the drug distributors to combat the opioid epidemic. James said the agreement resolves claims for the companies’ role in helping fuel the epidemic, and will remove the companies from the ongoing opioid trial. As part of the agreement, the company’s will pay a total of up to $1.18 billion, of which more than $1 billion will go towards abatement, with payments starting in two months and continuing over the course of the next 17 years. Shares of McKesson have now run up 14.5% year to date, Cardinal Health have gained 10.1% and AmerisourceBergen have rallied 20.3%, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+1.07%
has advanced 13.9%.
