TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. —

Chemical manufacturer 3M Co. will pay at least $10.3 billion to settle lawsuits over contamination of many U.S. public drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds used in firefighting foam and a host of consumer products, the company said Thursday.

The deal would compensate water providers for pollution with per- and polyfluorinated substances, known collectively as PFAS — a broad class of chemicals used in nonstick, water- and grease-resistant products such as clothing and cookware.

Described as "forever chemicals" because they don't degrade naturally in the environment, PFAS have been linked to a variety of health problems, including liver and immune-system damage and some cancers.

The compounds have been detected at varying levels in drinking water around the nation. The Environmental Protection Agency in March proposed strict limits on two common types, PFOA and PFOS, and said it wanted to regulate four others. Water providers would be responsible for monitoring their systems for the chemicals.

The agreement would settle a case that was scheduled for trial earlier this month involving a claim by Stuart, Florida, one of about 300 communities that have filed similar suits against companies that produced firefighting foam or the PFAS it contained.

3M chairman Mike Roman said the deal was "an important step forward" that builds on the company's decision in 2020 to phase out PFOA and PFOS and its investments in "state-of-the-art water filtration technology in our chemical manufacturing operations." The company, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, will halt all PFAS production by the end of 2025, he said.

The settlement will be paid over 13 years and could reach as high as $12.5 billion, depending on how many public water systems detect PFAS during testing that EPA has required in the next three years, said Dallas-based attorney Scott Summy, one of the lead attorneys for those suing 3M and other manufacturers.

The payment will help cover costs of filtering PFAS from systems where it's been detected and testing others, he said.

"The result is that millions of Americans will have healthier lives without PFAS in their drinking water," Summy said.

Earlier this month, three other companies — DuPont de Nemours Inc. and spinoffs Chemours Co. and Corteva Inc. — reached a $1.18 billion deal to resolve PFAS complaints by about 300 drinking water providers. A number of states, airports, firefighter training facilities and private well owners also have sued.

The cases are pending in U.S. District Court in Charleston, South Carolina, where Judge Richard Gergel is overseeing thousands of complaints alleging PFAS damages. A trial of a complaint by the city of Stuart, Florida, had been scheduled to begin this month but was delayed to allow time for additional settlement negotiations.

Most of the lawsuits have stemmed from firefighter training exercises at airports, military bases and other sites around the U.S. that repeatedly used foams laced with high concentrations of PFAS, Summy said.

The 3M settlement is subject to court approval, he said.

3M's website says the company helped the U.S. Navy develop foams containing PFAS chemicals in the 1960s.

"This was an important and life-saving tool that helped combat dangerous fires, like those caused by jet fuel," the company said.

3M said its participation in the settlement "is not an admission of liability" and said if it was rejected in court, "3M is prepared to continue to defend itself."

The cost of cleansing PFAS from U.S. water systems eventually could go much higher than the sums agreed to in the settlements, Summy acknowledged.

"I'm not sure anyone knows what that ultimate number will be," he said. "But I do think this is going to make a huge dent in that cost ... and you don't have to litigate for the next decade or longer."

Millions of Americans who qualified for free tax services — but were instead deceived into paying TurboTax for their returns — will soon get settlement checks in the mail.

In a settlement last year, TurboTax's owner Intuit Inc. was ordered to pay $141 million to some 4.4 million people across the country. Those impacted were low-income consumers eligible for free, federally-supported tax services — but paid TurboTax to file their federal returns across the 2016, 2017 and 2018 tax years due to “predatory and deceptive marketing,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia signed the May 2022 settlement, which was led by James.

Consumers eligible for restitution payments do not need to file a claim, the New York Attorney's General Office said Thursday. They will be notified by an email from Rust Consulting, the settlement fund administrator, and receive a check automatically.

Checks will be mailed starting this week, and continue through the month of May. The amount paid to each eligible consumer ranges from $29 to $85 — depending on the number of tax years they qualify for.

“TurboTax’s predatory and deceptive marketing cheated millions of low-income Americans who were trying to fulfill their legal duties to file their taxes,” James said in a Thursday statement. “Today we are righting that wrong and putting money back into the pockets of hardworking taxpayers who should have never paid to file their taxes.”

At the time of the May 2022 settlement, James said her investigation into Intuit was sparked by a 2019 ProPublica report that found the company was using deceptive tactics to steer low-income tax filers away from the free, federal services they qualified for — and toward its own commercial products instead.

Under the terms of last year's settlement, Intuit Inc. agreed to suspend TurboTax’s “free, free, free” ad campaign. According to documents obtained by ProPublica, Intuit executives were aware of the impact of advertising free services that were actually not free for everyone.

“The website lists Free, Free, Free and the customers are assuming their return will be free,” an internal company PowerPoint presentation said, per ProPublica. “Customers are getting upset.”

When contacted by The Associated Press on Friday, Inuit pointed to the company's May 2022 statement following the settlement agreement.

“Intuit is pleased to have reached a resolution with the state attorneys general that will ensure the company can return our focus to providing vital services to American taxpayers today and in the future,” Kerry McLean, Intuit’s executive vice president and general counsel, said at the time.

The families of the people killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have reached a historic $73 million dollar settlement in a decade-long lawsuit against the maker of the AR-15 weapon the gunman used.

“Twenty children were killed and six adults and a subset of families have been working over 10 years to get some accountability by the manufacturer,” said Michael Rodriguez, professor at UCLA School of Public Health. “Guns, even though they're a consumer product, are not monitored or regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In fact, in 2005 Congress provided them immunity from being liable from any civil suits.”

That immunity from the Lawful Commerce Act is why settlements from civil suits against gun manufacturers have been hard to come by in the past, making this settlement a big breakthrough, according to professor of law Carl Tobias at the University of Richmond.

“There was an exception in Connecticut law passed by their legislature, which made Remington come within the exception,” Tobias said.

The exception in the Connecticut statute has to do with how the weapon was advertised.

“They used marketing practices that were directed to try to again provide this persona, almost to sort of elevate this macho image," Rodriguez said. "And there was also some concerns about marketing to people who may sort of be vulnerable potentially with mental health problems.”

“What's interesting is a number of other states have rather similar statutes,” Tobias said.

Tobias says this case sends a message to gun manufacturers and their insurance companies of the importance of responsible marketing practices.

“What it also shows is that in the absence of stronger national and local regulations that there's also other tools like litigation that can that that can make this industry responsible,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez says civil suits are one of the few tools Americans have to hold manufacturers responsible.

 

A group of states' Attorneys General announced a proposed $26 billion opioid crisis settlement Wednesday that, if approved, will resolve claims against the "big three" drug distributors — McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Drug — as well as manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.

The proposed agreement, if approved by enough state and local governments, would resolve the claims of nearly 4,000 entities that have filed lawsuits in federal and state courts against the four companies, according to a press release from New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The three distributors collectively will pay up to $21 billion over the next 18 years.

Johnson & Johnson will pay up to $5 billion over nine years, with up to $3.7 billion paid during the first three years, according to the release.

The proposed agreement would result in court orders requiring Johnson & Johnson to stop selling opioids, not fund or provide grants to third parties for promoting opioids, and not lobby for any activities related to opioids. It would also prohibit sales staff from influencing decisions related to identifying suspicious opioid orders.

McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen will be required to share their data with an independent clearinghouse. The distributors would need to account for their own shipments and the shipments of the other distributors to detect, stop and report suspicious orders.

The three companies released a joint statement Wednesday: "While the companies strongly dispute the allegations at issue in the trial, they believe this resolution will allow the companies to focus their attention and resources on the safe and secure delivery of medications and therapies while delivering meaningful relief to affected communities, and will also support efforts to achieve a broad resolution," they said, in part.

Johnson & Johnson released a statement saying it would contribute $5 billion to the settlement, depending on the number of state and local governments that decide to opt into the agreement.

"We recognize the opioid crisis is a tremendously complex public health issue, and we have deep sympathy for everyone affected," said Michael Ullmann, Johnson & Johnson's executive vice president and general counsel. "This settlement will directly support state and local efforts to make meaningful progress in addressing the opioid crisis in the United States."

New York will specifically receive up to $1.25 billion to fund prevention, treatment and recovery programs.

"The numerous companies that manufactured and distributed opioids across the nation did so without regard to life or even the national crisis they were helping to fuel," said James, the New York attorney general.

A total of fourteen states — New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas — were involved in reaching the proposed settlement agreement, according to the release.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said during a press conference, "We collectively took on some of the most powerful companies in the world to fight for you," speaking to the families who have lost loved ones to the opioid crisis.

Cases against Mallinckrodt and Rochester Drug Cooperative will move forward separately through US bankruptcy court.

The trial against the three remaining defendants — Endo Health Solutions, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and Allergan Finance — is currently underway and will continue in state court.

CINCINNATI —

The family of Kyle Plush has reached a $6 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Cincinnati.

The settlement was announced on the eve of the third anniversary of Plush's death. The city of Cincinnati and the Plush family "have agreed to resolve a lawsuit filed by the family seeking damages and meaningful improvement of the City Emergency Communication Center."

"Kyle was a very positive person, and he would have wanted to make change," said Jill Plush, Kyle's mother.

"I think there's going to be a lot of good things happening, and we're going to be with them along the way for the next five years," said Ron Plush, Kyle's father.

The 16-year-old Seven Hills student died on April 10, 2018, when he was trapped by a folding seat in the back of a minivan parked in a lot across from his school.

The boy was headed to the tennis court but never arrived. Instead, he was pinned by a folding seat in the back of his parked minivan.

Plush managed to use the voice activation on his phone to call 911. However, operators and police were unable to locate his van.

The teenager was found six hours later by his father. He was unresponsive in the van and pronounced dead a short time later.

The settlement reads that the city "has taken substantial remedial action to address the problems that contributed to first responders failing to locate and rescue Kyle Plush, but acknowledges the need for continuous improvement with public transparency and accountability."

The settlement establishes a team of 911 experts from around the country who will work with the director of the ECC to further enhance the city's 911 system.

"The scope of the work that these experts will engage in includes fully, thoroughly exploring all the actions that everyone took that failed Kyle, identifying the systemic issues: the training, the quality assurance, the protocol issues and making sure that every one of them gets fixed," Gerhardstein said. "Reports every six months. They will be public. The public will be able to talk directly to the expert team. And they'll be a public hearing at various points whenever any of us want one, in order to bring everybody up to date with what's been done."

In the lawsuit, the Plush family argues that the city acted recklessly and didn't make the boy's 911 calls a high priority.

"Most important is that she (the operator) didn't even contact the officers on the scene who were there when Kyle was still alive," Plush family attorney Al Gerhardstein said last year.

City officials argued that Plush was a victim of a horrible circumstance and not recklessness.

The Plush family sued the city of Cincinnati, former city manager Harry Black, two 911 call takers and both Cincinnati police officers who responded and failed to find the teen's van.

On Friday, Cincinnati City Manager Paula Boggs Muething said the employees of the ECC and the police department are working to ensure the city "never again experiences a tragedy like the one suffered by the Plush family. The City is dedicated to providing the most professional emergency response to all Cincinnatians."

City officials said they've made numerous changes and improvements to the ECC over the past three years, including changing leadership at the ECC, embracing data-based approaches, ensuring higher retention rates of ECC employees, providing call response times that exceed national standards, upgrading mapping software in police vehicles with 911 caller locations and amending procedures to emergency calls classified as "unknown trouble."

The Plush family's attorney, Al Gerhardstein, had this to say following the settlement: "The family enters this agreement in honor of their son Kyle. To honor his memory, it was important that we secure a civic commitment to continuous improvement. With this agreement the City Manager commits to continue reforms in an enforceable, transparent way that will make the City safer for everyone. The family sees improvement under the current leadership and this court-supervised agreement will build on that.”

"I really think that he's looking down on us and he's super proud of Al and his team for the work that they have done," Jill Plush said.