Dive Brief:

Cencora directors have agreed to pay upwards of $111 million to settle allegations that they failed to stop the drug distributor from perpetuating the U.S. opioid epidemic.

The lawsuit brought by pension funds accused Cencora’s leadership of ignoring red flags around how the company was dispensing the highly addictive painkillers for years — including dubiously large opioid shipments — and failing to properly monitor opioid sales.

The settlement disclosed Friday in a filing with the Delaware Chauncery Court is Cencora’s latest financial penalty over its role in the opioid crisis. Still, it amounts to a slap on the wrist compared to the billions of dollars that Cencora has already agreed to pay to settle opioid-related litigation brought by state and local governments.

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