Teva Settles Oklahoma Opioid Case for $85 Million
26 Mai 2019 - 6:39PM
Dow Jones News
By Sara Randazzo
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. agreed Sunday to pay $85
million to resolve claims by the state of Oklahoma that the
company's marketing helped fuel a rise in opioid addiction.
The deal comes days before Teva was set to defend itself at a
landmark trial, the first to unfold out of some 2,000 lawsuits
brought by states and local municipalities against pharmaceutical
companies over the opioid crisis.
The trial is expected to move forward Tuesday in Norman, Okla.,
against Johnson & Johnson. The state earlier reached a $270
million settlement with the third defendant in the case, OxyContin
maker Purdue Pharma LP.
Israel-based Teva said Sunday that while the company "has long
stated that the courtroom is not a place to address the crisis,
Teva is pleased to put the Oklahoma case behind it" and will
continue to defend itself against the hundreds of other cases. Teva
didn't admit to wrongdoing as part of the settlement and said it
"has not contributed to the abuse of opioids in Oklahoma in any
way."
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter's office said Sunday that
details of how the $85 million will be allocated will be announced
in the coming weeks, but added that the money "will be used to
abate the opioid crisis in Oklahoma."
Purdue's settlement funds are being used to establish a national
opioid-addiction center in Oklahoma, as well as going toward local
municipalities and covering plaintiffs' attorney fees.
Teva and its subsidiaries make generic opioid painkillers,
including a generic version of OxyContin, along with two branded
drugs used for breakthrough cancer pain. Teva has argued that it
doesn't market its generic opioids, which likely weakened
Oklahoma's case.
The state says aggressive marketing by the companies that played
down the risk of addiction while touting the drugs for widespread
pain management helped create a culture of dependence that led to a
"public nuisance" under state law.
Mr. Hunter said Sunday the settlement "is a testament to the
state's legal team's countless hours and resources preparing for
this trial and their dedication and resolve to hold the defendants
in this case accountable for the ongoing opioid overdose and
addiction epidemic that continues to claim thousands of lives each
year."
From 2011 to 2015, more than 2,100 Oklahomans died of an
unintentional prescription opioid overdose, the state has said in
court filings. In 2015, more than 326 million opioid pills were
dispensed to Oklahoma residents, enough for every adult to have 110
pills.
Oklahoma has set the cost to abate the opioid epidemic in the
state at between $12.7 and $17.5 billion.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 26, 2019 12:24 ET (16:24 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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