Teva Pharmaceuticals will pay up to $4.2 billion to settle claims related to its role in fueling the opioid crisis, New York Attorney General Letitia James said on Thursday. James said the company will pay $523 million to New York state to settle claims in the state, reports Reuters. The settlement is the largest reached with an individual opioid defendant, said the Office of the New York State Attorney General. “Teva knowingly and intentionally misled New Yorkers and the American people about the deadly dangers of opioids, and last year, a jury found them responsible for the devastation and destruction they have caused,” James said James. Teva had promoted false information regarding the safety of opioid drugs, reflecting tremendous damage on the lives of countless people, while also abusing the health insurance system, said Superintendent of Financial Services Adrienne Harris. The funds secured by James will be paid over a period of 18 years.
The agreement also commits Teva to injunctive relief that includes a ban on high-dose opioids, prohibitions on marketing opioids and funding third parties, restrictions on political lobbying, monitoring and reporting of off-label use of products; and disclosure of Teva opioid product clinical data. As reported earlier, CVS, Walmart and Walgreens have agreed to pay $13.8 billion for mishandling opioid pain drugs. The money will go to resolve thousands of U.S. state and local lawsuits and will bring dollars to communities that are desperate for funds to combat the epidemic.