Teva will pay $ 85 million for the settlement of an opioid case in Oklahoma; The trial of J & J is looming

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE / NEW YORK – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. agreed to pay $ 85 million to settle a lawsuit in Oklahoma, alleging that the illegal commercialization of his opioid painkillers had contributed to a public health crisis in the state.

The agreement, announced Sunday, was reached while the case was about to be tried next week. The state had presumed that Teva and his co-defendant, Johnson & Johnson, had persuaded doctors to tighten powerful drug prescriptions to treat conditions for which they had not been approved, leading to overdose deaths and drug addiction. .

The trial against the latest J & J defendant, whom the state has called the "pivot" of the opioid crisis in the United States, is set to begin on Tuesday.

The terms of the settlement may take up to two weeks to be finalized and the money will be used to "mitigate the opioid crisis in Oklahoma," said Attorney General Mike Hunter in a statement.

Oklahoma claimed at least $ 10 billion in damages. This trial will be the first test of public nuisance laws against manufacturers and distributors of opioids. At least 42 states and more than 1,600 municipalities have sued companies in the sector, claiming billions of dollars in damages.

Last minute agreement in Oklahoma focuses on opioid dispute resolution in Cleveland, where a federal judge scheduled two trial trials in October to allow jurors to review claims for public nuisance before the drug marketing campaigns.

The agreement came about two months after Purdue Pharma LP agreed to pay $ 270 million to resolve Oklahoma's claims over the selling points of its opioid pain reliever, OxyContin. Purdue sought an agreement to ease the liabilities that threatened to bankrupt the company. The money was for research and treatment.

Oklahoma said J & J and Teva had helped create a public health crisis related to opioid abuse that killed thousands of its residents. In its lawsuit, the state accused the companies of over-exaggerating the benefits of painkillers and minimizing their risks, which created a "devastating cycle of excessive prescription" based on "addiction, dependency and a market saturated with misinformation about the pros and cons ". safety of these drugs. "

The Teva settlement does not establish any wrongdoing on the part of the company.

The case concerns the state of Oklahoma c. Purdue Pharma LP, CJ-2017-816, Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Court of Justice (Norman).