“American Indians have the highest per capita opioid overdose rates and are more likely than other groups in the United States to die from drug-related deaths,” Douglas Yankton, North Dakota’s Spirit Lake State President, said in a statement. . ” Under this initial resolution, funds that will flow to tribes will help fund critical, reserved, culturally appropriate opioid treatment services.”

More than 400 tribal and intertribal organizations representing about 80 percent of tribal citizens have filed lawsuits over opioids.

New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson — whose opioids include Duragesic and Nucynta but has stopped selling opioids — said in a statement Tuesday that the settlement was not an admission of responsibility or wrongdoing. Columbus, Ohio-based Cardinal declined to comment, and other dealers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Under the agreement, Johnson & Johnson will pay $150 million over two years. AmerisourceBergen, Conshohocken, PA; McKesson, Irvine, Texas; Cardinal will contribute a total of $440 million over seven years.

Each tribe can decide whether to participate, but the money is needed to combat the opioid epidemic.

Tara Sutton, an attorney representing 28 tribes, said the deal will go into effect when 95 percent of the tribes agree to a settlement after suing the company.

Settlement between tribes and other companies involved in opioids is also underway, Sutton said.

The newly announced deal is separate from a $75 million deal between Cherokee Nation and three distribution companies last year before the trial.

The same four companies are nearing the final stages of approving a $26 billion settlement with U.S. state and local governments. They won’t decide until later this month whether enough government entities have signed on to proceed with the deal.

The tribe’s money will come from larger settlements.

The tribal settlement is part of some $40 billion worth of settlements, fines and penalties the company has filed over the years for its role in opioids.

These drugs, including prescription drugs such as OxyContin and illicit drugs such as heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl, have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the United States over the past two decades.