AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson said Sept. 28 they will pay a collective $75 million to the Cherokee Nation to settle opioid litigation.
The Cherokee Nation sued the three pharmaceutical distributors in April 2017, claiming they profited from not preventing opioids from being sold on the black market, The Hill reported.
The drug companies are to pay the money over a period of six and a half years.
"The companies view today's settlement as an important step toward reaching a broader settlement with all federally recognized Native American tribes across the country," the distributors said in a joint statement.
The companies said in the statement they all still "strongly dispute the allegations against them."
The settlement is the largest in Cherokee Nation history, according to The Hill.
Read the full statement here.