Teva Reaches Tentative $4.25 Billion Settlement Over Opioids

Teva Pharmaceuticals, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of generic opioids, announced an agreement in principle with nearly 2,500 local governments, states and tribes over the company’s role in the deadly, ongoing opioid epidemic.

The deal – up to $4.25 billion – came after a series of blatant trials and previous settlements in separate cases across the country over the past year.

Although little known, Teva, an Israeli company, and its partners produced far more prescription opioids than marquee-name opioid makers such as Johnson & Johnson during the peak years of the crisis. Its production of both generic and branded painkillers dwarfs the production of Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, the drug that quickly set off an avalanche of overdoses and deaths.

Under the deal, Teva will pay, over 13 years, state, local and tribal programs directed at mitigating the opioid crisis, which has only deepened during the coronavirus pandemic. The total $4.25 billion included about $550 million in settlements the company had already made as trials were underway in San Francisco as well as Florida, West Virginia, Texas, Louisiana and Rhode Island.

States and communities may choose to accept a portion of their payments in overdose reversal drugs rather than in cash.

The deal was negotiated by representatives of about a dozen state attorneys general. “Today’s announcement shows once again that those responsible for this tragic issue will be held accountable and that help will be available to those affected by the opioid epidemic,” said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. a statement.

“While wrongdoing will not be acknowledged in the agreement, it is in our best interest to put these matters behind us and continue to focus on the patients we serve every day,” Teva said in a statement.

People close to the talks said around 10-12 per cent of the money would be allocated for fees to lawyers who brought cases against the company in 2013.

In 2016, Teva acquired Actavis, a generic arm of Allergan. In order for Teva’s deal to be finalized, Allergan must also settle with these plaintiffs. Lawyers familiar with the talks said they expected an announcement to be made soon.

The deal is also dependent on an overwhelming majority of state, local and tribal governments voting in favor.

Lawyers for an executive committee negotiating for local governments urged everyone to support the hard-won deal: “We encourage all these groups to sign this agreement so that these resources can be used for those people.” to be found in their hands as soon as possible.” He said in a statement.

While that outcome seems likely, one state that participated, among the dozens that negotiated the terms, has yet to sign off: New York, along with Nassau and Suffolk counties, in a civil jury trial last December. prevailed against Teva. In the shadow of the second phase of that trial to determine financial measures, New York is still in talks with the company, a spokeswoman for the New York attorney general’s office said.

Getting an acceptable offer from Teva has been a particularly long battle for the states, tribes and municipalities that brought cases against it. For example, Purdue Pharma is often associated with rapid and deceptive marketing of its branded drugs to doctors, with manufacturers of generic drugs not formally making sales calls to them. Teva said it did not market its opioids to doctors.

One of Teva’s early settlement proposals in 2019 consisted almost entirely of drugs, as well as a small amount of cash. While Johnson & Johnson and three drug distributors who also participated in that initial offer went on to strike a deal two years later, Teva continued to litigate.

But in December 2020, the Senate Finance Committee released findings that were particularly critical of Teva, among other manufacturers, for the millions of dollars it paid to tax-exempt groups lobbied for lawmakers and others, Pressed for more patient access to pain medications. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs said that Teva, which had taken a dominant position in the generic market by buying out smaller companies, had largely ignored red flags such as pill orders.