(Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson has offered to pay $4 billion to settle all claims the company helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic as part of a larger deal-making effort involving drugmakers and distributors that could top $20 billion, according to people familiar with the pitch.

J&J’s overture came on the heels of a proposal by distributors McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. to pay a combined $18 billion to wipe out all opioid suits against the companies, the people said. The money would be paid out in $1 billion increments over 18 years, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. The Wall Street Journal first reported the distributors’ offer Tuesday.

J&J and the distributors -- which deliver the majority of prescription medications to U.S. pharmacies -- made the proposal as part of talks with a group of state attorneys general, the people said Tuesday. The proposals came on the eve of the first federal trial in Cleveland over responsibility for the opioid public-health crisis.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., another drug manufacturer targeted in the nationwide litigation, is offering to give away more than $15 billion in generic drugs, including those that help fight opioid overdoses, to resolve all of its cases, the people said. The agreement would run over 10 years, they said.

If all the proposals are accepted, the Cleveland trial probably will be put off given that the three distributors and Teva are the main defendants in that case, the people said. The claims on trial are by two counties seeking reimbursement for the hundreds of millions in tax dollars spent on the fallout from opioid addictions and overdoses.

“As we’ve stated previously, we remain open to viable options to resolve these cases, including through settlement,’’ Ernie Knewitz, a J&J spokesman, said in an emailed statement.

U.S.-based Teva spokeswoman Kelley Dougherty declined to comment on the proposed swap of free drugs for dismissal of opioid cases. AmerisourceBergen spokesman Gabriel Weissman also declined to comment.

Representatives of McKesson and Cardinal Health didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Updates with J&J spokesman’s comment in sixth paragraph.)

To contact the reporters on this story: Jef Feeley in Wilmington, Delaware at jfeeley@bloomberg.net;Riley Griffin in New York at rgriffin42@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, ;Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg, Peter Jeffrey

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