Baltimore accepts judge's reduced $152.3 million award in opioid lawsuit

Baltimore has accepted a $152.3 million award in an opioid lawsuit against drugmakers McKesson and Cencora , boosting the city’s total awards from pharmaceutical companies to $579.8 million.

The city accepted the award Thursday afternoon, after being given a deadline of Aug. 22 by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill.

In his June ruling, Fletcher-Hill said the jury’s $266 million award from a trial in November was “excessive.” The city was told to accept the judge’s new, reduced offer or opt to go to trial again. The final award amount was $152.3 million. The city originally sued McKesson and Cencora for $5 billion.

“From the beginning, this case has always been about securing justice for Baltimoreans who have been disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis,”