Division of Law Recoveries for New Jersey Rose Nearly 37% in 2023

TRENTON — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced today that civil enforcement efforts in 2023 brought in nearly $596 million through recoveries resulting from lawsuits and investigations, nearly 37% higher than in 2022.

Of that amount, $458.7 million came from New Jersey’s share of nationwide opioid settlements. Other recovered funds resulted from cases that spanned a wide range of categories, including environmental cases, various types of consumer issues, taxation matters, and debt recovery actions.

Many of these settlements, including the opioid-related agreements, stem from the State’s actions in conjunction with its multistate partners.

The $595.9 million recovered by the State does not reflect other forms of relief obtained in some of those matters that directly benefit victims, such as restitution for defrauded consumers or investors, balance forgiveness, and/or debt relief.

“Every day, my primary focus is protecting our residents. When we go to court, we fight for them. We fight to provide relief for families devastated by the opioid epidemic. We fight for consumers who have been scammed out of their hard-earned dollars. We fight against large corporations who have unlawfully used their power to raise prices on everything from cellphones to Springsteen and Taylor Swift tickets. We fight for kids targeted by large social media companies who knowingly put profits ahead of our kids’ mental health,” said Attorney General Platkin. “I am proud that, thanks to the work of our dedicated attorneys, we have delivered hundreds of millions of dollars back into our residents’ pockets and made them safer in the process. We will never stop fighting for them.”

“The Division of Law is dedicated to protecting New Jersey’s residents by holding accountable those who harm them or deplete the State’s resources,” said Division of Law Acting Director Michael C. Walters. “Our exceptional legal team is relentless in their pursuit of those who violate our laws or commit other offenses that, if left uncorrected, cause serious damage to New Jersey taxpayers.”

These are some of the notable recoveries of 2023:

Opioid Multistate Settlements

In 2023, New Jersey recovered $458.7 million from pharmacy chains, drug makers, and drug distributors for their alleged roles in the opioid substance use disorder epidemic.

• CVS Health and CVS Pharmacy: $131.4 million
• Walgreens: $142.9 million
• Walmart: $74.4 million
• Teva Pharmaceuticals: $99.8 million
• Allergan: $59.4 million
• Mallinckrodt: $4.5 million

Consumer Recoveries

The State recovered $33.6 million from JUUL Labs for the e-cigarette manufacturer’s marketing and sales practices. While the 2022 consent judgment with JUUL permitted the company to make the payment over several years, it opted to pay the full amount in 2023.

Dollar General paid $1.2 million to resolve allegations that the chain repeatedly engaged in merchandise pricing violations at several retail stores across the state.

Data Breach Recoveries

Morgan Stanley paid $1.2 million to New Jersey to resolve a multistate investigation into two data security incidents that compromised the personal information of 755,592 New Jersey residents. The State co-led the investigation, which affected more than 3.37 million people nationwide.

EyeMed Vision Care paid $750,000 for a data breach that affected more than 52,000 New Jerseyans. The State co-led that investigation as well.

Software company Blackbaud paid the State just over $1 million for its deficient data security practices and inadequate response to a 2020 ransomware event.

Environmental Justice Settlement

In 2023, the largest environmental justice penalty—$8 million—came from Newark-based MJ & Sons and related defendants for an illegal statewide dumping scheme.

Separately, litigation-related settlements and judgments paid by the State in 2023 totaled approximately  $121.5 million, lower than the $177.4 million paid in 2022 as well as the $196 million paid in 2021.

###