Teva Pharmaceuticals will pay up to $523 million to New York to settle claims stemming from the company’s role in the opioid crisis.
Tish James, the Attorney General, announced the latest settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., its American subsidiary Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, and its affiliates on Thursday. It comes nearly a year after a Suffolk County jury found the drugmaker liable for contributing to New York’s opioid addiction and overdose deaths.
The agreement brings the attorney general’s lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors to a close. It brings the total amount secured by the AG’s office as part of that effort to more than $2 billion.
“I promised to put an end to the devastation caused by opioid manufacturers in New York and across the country, and to hold them accountable for the consequences,” James said in a statement. “Today is a watershed moment in our fight against the opioid crisis.”
Teva did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the agreement.
According to the AG’s office, New York will receive more than $313 million as part of the Teva New York Agreement signed on Thursday. It is in addition to the $210 million that New York will receive over the next 13 years as part of the $4 billion nationwide Teva Global Settlement announced earlier this summer.
The funds will be distributed over an 18-year period under the terms of the agreement. It commits Teva to injunctive relief that includes, among other things, a ban on high-dose opioids and prescription savings programs, restrictions on political lobbying, and the disclosure of opioid product clinical data. James’ office also stated that it obtained injunctive relief from Teva’s distributor, Anda, Inc.
If approved by their respective county legislatures, the settlement will end Nassau and Suffolk counties’ lawsuits against Teva. The AG’s office stated that it intended to file a motion to remove the drug company from the litigation, effectively bringing the state’s opioid trial to a close.
It also resolves administrative charges of insurance fraud brought by the state Department of Financial Services against Teva, according to James’ office.
The late-December verdict against Teva by a Suffolk County jury concluded a months-long trial in a landmark lawsuit filed against major drug manufacturers and distributors.
Teva, the case’s sole remaining defendant, and its affiliates were found liable for public nuisance charges brought by the state and two counties (Nassau and Suffolk) hard hit by the opioid epidemic. A subsequent trial was scheduled to determine how much Teva and others should pay the state.
James’ office previously announced a $200 million settlement with Allergan, as well as similar settlements with other defendants named in the March 2019 lawsuit, including Endo Health Solutions and McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc., and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation.
The state’s new Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board will oversee how settlement funds are distributed in New York. This week, the panel issued its first annual report and recommendations for disbursement.
Ann-Marie Foster, president and CEO of Phoenix Houses of New York/Long Island, argued on Thursday that the funds “must be immediately deployed — or the crisis will only worsen.”
“We need these funds to reach treatment providers and other Substance Use Disorder programs,” she stated in a statement. “We’re fighting on the front lines of this exploding crisis, and treatment centers like Phoenix House have yet to see a single dollar.”