Teva Pharmaceuticals May Pay $3.6B In Opioid Settlement

Teva Pharmaceuticals May Pay $3.6B In Opioid Settlement

Introduction

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries indicated that it is ready to pay a settlement of as much as $3.6 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits against the company and other drug companies over allegations of fueling the opioid crisis.

Earlier this week, Teva reached a settlement of $225 million with Texas over the opioid crisis, which included cash of $150 million and products worth $75 million.

Teva would pay $2.7 billion to $3.6 billion over 15 years as per the current settlement and the proposed $26 billion nationwide settlement, which includes the nation's three large distributors along with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson (J&J).

Teva's chief executive stated that the Texas model of the settlement is perfect as it fulfills the cash demand by setting aside a significant portion of the amount as products to help the people suffering from substance abuse.

In 2019, Teva offered to pay $250 million over ten years and donate $23 billion in opioid addiction treatment drugs to resolve the opioid lawsuits by the state, counties and municipalities.

The company even agreed on similar settlements with Oklahoma and Louisiana. Another deceptive marketing claim involving the state of New York and two counties were also settled by the company.

A similar lawsuit in California has been awarded in favor of Teva pharmaceuticals, where the judge stated that the drug distributors and manufacturers could not be held responsible for the opioid crisis.