Teva Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest generic drug manufacturers, has reached a $225 million settlement with Texas, according to The Dallas Morning News.
This is the biggest settlement so far of claims that Teva inappropriately marketed highly addictive opioid painkillers.
According to a copy of the accord made public by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the settlement includes $150 million of cash payments over 15 years and $75 million of Narcan (naloxone), a medication that reverses an opioid overdose.
Paxton said the deal ends a state investigation and resolves lawsuits by Texas over Teva’s role in causing a public health crisis.
He said in a statement, “Pharmaceutical companies must be held accountable for their role in this devastating epidemic. These resources will be used to fund recovery initiatives that will help countless Texans.”
Apart from Teva, there are more than 10 companies, including drugmakers, distributors, and pharmacies, which face thousands of lawsuits by states and counties alleging they are responsible for causing an opioid epidemic in the United States. The U.S. opioid crisis has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Teva said it would continue to seek a global settlement to all the litigation.
Teva CEO Kåre Schultz said in a news release, “While the settlement includes no admission of wrongdoing by Teva or its affiliates, it remains in the best interest of Teva to put these cases behind us and continue to focus on the patients we serve every day.”
In 2019, Teva agreed to pay Oklahoma $85 million to avoid a trial on claims it illegally marketed its version of Actiq and Fentora, both containing fentanyl.
In December 2021, a New York jury found the Jerusalem-based company and some units created a “public nuisance” with their opioid-marketing miscues.
Teva has offered overdose-fighting drugs valued at about $23 billion, plus $250 million in cash, to resolve the thousands of cases against it.
Holly Froum, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said in a research note, “Teva may ultimately settle all opioid litigation for as much as $6 billion, with a payout over 10 to 18 years. Trials set in Rhode Island in March and Florida in April may spur a deal sooner rather than later.”
